Alexander Yannai אלכסנדר ינאי
king and High Priest for twenty-seven years; he made war on his own people
His reign was the longest and the hardest. Wars ran almost without a break; the borders reached the sea and the Golan. But his chief war was at home. On Sukkot, serving in the Temple, he poured the water libation over his own feet instead of on the altar—an open sign that he stood with the Sadducees; the people pelted him with etrogim. He answered with mercenaries and, according to Josephus, thousands died; the revolt lasted six years.
The Talmud tells of "King Yannai" the story of Elazar ben Poirah, who persuaded the king that the sages were against him, and "the sages of Israel were killed, and the world was desolate until Shimon ben Shetach came and restored the Torah to its place."
Before his death he said to his wife words the Talmud reports thus: "Fear not the Pharisees, and not those who are not Pharisees; fear the painted ones—who act like Zimri and ask reward like Pinchas." He left her the throne and the task of reconciling with the sages—and she did both.
On the timeline
Places
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Kiddushin 66a — Elazar ben Poirah and the killing of the sages
- Sotah 22b — «fear the painted ones» — his charge to his wife
- Mishnah Sukkah 4:9 — the water poured on the feet, and the etrogim
Documents of the period
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 13:372–383 — the Sukkot riot and the six years of war
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 13:398–404 — his testament to Salome
Basis: documents and evidence.