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A Queenly Sukkah


Sukkah 2


Hello Masechet Sukkah! There are many fascinating connections to Eretz Yisrael in this masechet, we will start with the unusual personality whose sukkah is featured here at the beginning: Queen Helene הלני המלכה . Her sukkah was over twenty amot high (more than ten meters, quite a structure) and yet the rabbis visited her in it and seemingly allowed her and her sons to use it.

Who is Queen Helene? She appears in a number of places in the Gemara and Josephus, as a wealthy, generous and religious woman. She donates a chandelier to the Bet HaMikdash (Yoma 37) feeds the poor during a year of famine (Josephus) and even becomes a Nazirite for seven years to fulfill a vow she made when her son went to war (Nazir 19b). Josephus also mentions her palace in the City of David and her massive tomb north of the city, which is known today as the Tombs of the Kings.

(a 19th century picture of the tomb, courtesy of Wikipedia)

The most fascinating fact about Helene is that she was a convert to Judaism. She ruled over a kingdom called Adiabene, which is in today’s northern Syria:

(Wikipedia)
and lived during the first century CE. According to Josephus, a Jewish traveler convinced her of the truth of Judiasm and she and her son Monbaz converted. She visited Jerusalem and eventually came to live there. It also seems that most of the royal family converted as well.

The Midrash Rabba on Bereshit (46) offers a fascinating story about Monbaz and his brother Izates. They were studying Torah and reached the story about Abraham circumcising himself and Yishmael. Upon reading this, each man started to cry and individually decided to be circumcised.  Their mother Helene was supportive but in order not to incur the wrath of their father, she explained to him that they had a skin problem and needed to undergo this operation.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know what this impressive woman looked like? Sorry, can’t help you there. However, last summer the Tower of David Museum asked various designers to imagine what famous women of Jerusalem may have worn, and then photographed Israeli celebrities in the outfits. Here is Keren Mor as Queen Helene, courtesy of the Walla fashion site:  



A great coda to the story is a recent archaeological discovery. In an excavation being carried out in the Givati parking lot in the City of David, archaeologist Doron Ben Ami discovered a massive house from the Second Temple period with a mikveh in the basement. While there is no door sign saying “Welcome to Queen Helene’s house” (yet!) the location and the wealth of the house led to its being named Queen Helene’s palace. 
(Wikipedia)

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