The Talmud (B. Tamid 32b) recounts a fascinating tale of his encounter with the Garden.
It all started during Alexander's travels. He stopped by a seemingly ordinary stream, but something was different. He had some salted fish with him, and when he rinsed it in the water, it released an incredible fragrance. Intrigued, Alexander drank from the stream and felt unbelievably refreshed. "This water," he declared, "must come from the Garden of Eden! Let's find its source!"
So, Alexander, ever the explorer, followed the stream. And it led him to… the Gates of Eden! But this wasn't just any garden gate. It was guarded by an angel, wielding a flaming sword. Can you imagine the sight?
Alexander's companions, understandably, were terrified and hid. But Alexander, never one to back down, stood his ground and demanded, "Open the gates for me!"
The angel, however, wasn't impressed. "This is the gateway of the Lord," the angel replied, quoting Psalms 118:20: "…the righteous shall enter through it." It wasn't a gate for conquerors, it was a gate for the just.
Undeterred, Alexander tried another approach. "I am a king," he protested, "and a highly regarded one at that! Give me something!"
The angel, perhaps amused by Alexander's persistence, relented and gave him… an eye. Just one. Seems like a strange gift, right?
Alexander, puzzled, took the eye and decided to weigh it. He piled on all his gold and silver, but the eye outweighed it all! How could this be? He turned to the angel for an explanation.
"The eye of a human being," the angel revealed, "is never satisfied." It’s a profound statement about human desire, right? Always wanting more, never truly content.
Alexander, still not convinced, asked for proof. And the angel, in turn, provided a powerful lesson. "Take some dust," the angel instructed, "and cover the eye. Then you will see for yourself."
Alexander did as he was told, and instantly, the eye returned to its true weight. The dust, symbolizing mortality and the end of earthly striving, finally quenched the eye's insatiable desire.
What a powerful message! As the Maharsha, Rabbi Samuel Eliezer Edels, points out, only those who don’t amass worldly goods can enter the Garden of Eden. This story, as we find in the IFA database (6966), highlights the futility of endless ambition.
The story, beautifully retold in Howard Schwartz's Tree of Souls, isn't just a fun anecdote about Alexander the Great. It's a reminder that even the mightiest conquerors can't overcome the limits of human desire, and that true satisfaction isn't found in endless acquisition, but in something far more profound. Alexander, who sought to conquer the entire world, couldn't conquer death, or the insatiable desires that drive so many of us.
Think about it: What are we chasing that will never truly satisfy us? And what "dust" might we need to find a sense of peace?