Helena: Queen, Convert and Pioneer

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We’ve all been there. We’ve all dreamed of pink sashaying gowns, dazzling tiaras, and glistening jewelry. We’ve all closed our eyes at one point in our lives and imagined hordes of servants at our beck and call. Of lavish banquets and imposing stairwells. Thrones and treasure rooms and fragrant flower gardens with glistening fountains. Maybe you were 6 when your mother first called you her ‘princess,’ and your imagination took root. Maybe you were younger. Perhaps you still, every so often, close your eyes and dream of a faraway fantasy world where you are queen. I know I do. Who hasn’t dreamed of being a queen?

What’s it like to be one really? In 2024, not much apparently (although I’m sure the queens out there aren’t worrying about mortgages and tuition bills…), but in the year 50 CE (Almost 2000 years ago), being queen meant more than we can ever imagine. It meant genuine power, not to mention unbelievable wealth.

Here’s the story of Queen Helena of Adiabene, a name that has all but slipped down to the footnotes of history, yet it is the story of a woman who chose to look past what so many envied and search for the truth, and eventually convert to Judaism.

Half a century before the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed by the Romans, Queen Helena ruled over Adiabene, the capital of a rich country that extended over part of the former Assyrian empire¹.

Queen Helena ruled with her husband, Monobaz, in Adiabene. Occasionally, Jewish merchants used to visit Adiabene on business. Through them, Helena became acquainted with, and interested in, the Jewish religion. As time went on, she became so deeply attracted to the high moral standard of Judaism that she employed a teacher for herself to learn all she could about it².

As she was exploring all that Judaism had to offer, her husband died and Izates, their younger son, was placed on the throne, this being the king’s dying wish³. As a fresh widow, Helena found solace in the ancient words of the Torah, and was thirsting to know more. Izates, the new king, fed off his mother’s enthusiasm and tentatively looked into Judaism as well.

That could have been enough for the two of them; they could have continued living the lives they knew and were comfortable with, against the backdrop of fascinating Jewish studies. But it was not enough for Queen Helena and her son Izates. They employed as their teacher a Jewish merchant by the name of Ananias (Chananyah) to teach them more⁴. Both mother and son were so impressed by all they learned about Judaism that they decided to give up the pagan faith of their land and adopt the Jewish religion as their own, Queen Helena’s older son Monobaz made the same decision soon after⁵.

Not much is written about the ensuing period after Queen Helena and her sons decided to convert, but it is safe to assume that it was an uphill battle. Torah Law instructs us to dissuade anyone looking to convert, to warn them of the countless challenges they will face and to repeatedly refute their wishes for conversion. The same must have been done then, and yet, Queen Helena and her sons ultimately became legitimate, Torah-fearing Jews.

Rabbi Eleazer resumed their Judaic studies after Rabbi Chananya, and it was then that Izates and Monobaz learned about the importance of circumcision, the divine commandment which was the sign of G‑d’s covenant with the Jewish people, the two brothers decided there and then that they would take this step to become real Jews. Although there might have been a great risk that this step would have caused their pagan people to rise in rebellion against the royal family, the two brothers (with the encouragement of their mother, Queen Helena) arranged to become circumcised, and fascinatingly, the fact that the royal house had embraced the Jewish religion did not affect the people’s loyalty to their king and queen⁶.

Not only were they personally very pious and observant followers of the Torah and its commands, but they influenced many of their own people to follow their example and embrace Judaism. The royal house of Adiabene helped the Jewish state in many ways. Many a time they sent large sums of money to Jerusalem, either to provide for the needs of the Beit Hamikdash or to help the poor⁷.

Once, a very serious famine ravished the Jewish land, and soon there was no money left to buy food from other countries. Queen Helena and her son used a large portion of their own state treasury to buy grain in Alexandria and dried fruits in Cyprus, and have all this life-saving food shipped to Jerusalem.⁸

In the Mishnah, we are told of many gifts which Queen Helena and her son gave to the Beit Hamikdash, for which they are remembered for all time. For instance, she had a golden candelabra placed above the entrance to the Beit Hamikdash, which not only had its own light but early in the morning it reflected the sun’s first rays. Thus, when the priests wanted to know whether it was already time to say the Shema in the morning, they had only to look at Queen Helena’s candelabra. Another gift of Queen Helena was a tablet of gold, as well as golden handles for all the vessels used in the Beit Hamikdash on Yom Kippur⁹.

When Queen Helena and Monobaz were criticized for squandering money on the poor, as well as donating so many priceless gifts to the Beit Hamikdash, Monobaz replied: “My ancestors amassed treasures in this world, while I gather treasures for the world to come. My ancestors placed their treasures in chambers, and had to guard them against thieves; my treasures are far from the reach of any greedy hand, and will be safe forever. My ancestors’ treasures did not produce any fruits, but mine continue to bring more and more fruit.”¹⁰

True and powerful words spoken by those who had everything this world had to offer- wealth, fame, and power. Most people spent their lifetimes chasing after that in a pursuit for happiness, and centuries ago, Queen Helena and her sons proved that it is worth nothing without true meaning and purpose in this world.