Chanukah II: Historic background

The story of Chanukah took place during the inter-testament period (that is, he 400 year period between the Old and New Testaments). At that time of history, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian empire.  

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Alexander the Great was the Prince of Macedonia (the northern part of Greece). He was to inherit his father throne, but he considered his Kingdom to be too small. So he set himself to conquer the entire world. His empire grew to include the territories from Greece to Egypt, and then to Babylon and beyond. He conquered all these regions, both militarily and culturally. His goal was the hellenization of the World (“Hellenize”: is to spread the Greek culture). 

Alexander the Great died very young, when he was 32 years old. Since he did not have an heir, his kingdom was divided among his four generals: Cassander (inherited Greece), Lysimachus (Asia Minor, now Turkey), Seleucus (Syria and Babylon), and Ptolemy (Egypt). with this division, Israel was left in a difficult position, because it was bordering two of these new kingdoms. At first, it was under the control of the Ptolemies (Egypt), but after a military encounter it became a part of the Seleucids (Syria).

MILITARY AND CULTURAL CONQUEST

The Greeks did not limit themselves to conquer in a military way, but also culturally. They considered their culture to be superior to the cultures of the rest of the world, whom they considered to be uncivilized. In this respect, they thought themselves to be pioneers, and even saviors. Almost every nation the Greeks conquered, they were Hellenized. However, it was not the same in Israel, for they had a deep culture with a well-defined philosophy of life and higher education than most of the surrounding nations. 

At first, the Jews felt relieved to be dealing with the Greeks, who were culturally and intellectually more refined. But  they soon realized that the Greek way of thinking was very much against the Hebrew mindset.

GREEK VS. HEBREW MINDSET

Here are some examples in which the mindset of the Jews and Greeks collide: 

a. Sovereignty

Greek view: Man is the center of everything. He is sovereign and controls his life and his surroundings. 

Hebrew view: God is in control of everything. Man is a partner with God, yet he subordinate to God's order.

b. Relationship between God and men

Greek: They had many gods, one for each aspect of life. Greek gods were made in the image of man, and they have the same passions and weaknesses as man. 

Hebrew: Man was made in the image of God; therefore they must act like Him. 

c. Nature

Greek: They adore nature, yet try to have dominion over it.

Hebrew: They recognize that everything was created by God. He established the order of the universe and sustains it.

d. Appearance and Essence

Greek: They emphasized on the exterior, and are very much driven by appearances. They are invested heavily on outer beauty.

Hebrew: Their emphasis is on the inner person, in developing themselves intellectually and spiritually. There is little attention to physical appearance.

e. Faith vs. Reason

Greek: They believed human reasoning has the answer to everything. What is real is that which may be seen and proved (as the phrase says: “Seeing is believing”)

Hebrew: They don’t reject intelligence, but recognize that human reason is limited. God has the answer to everything. They recognize that the spiritual reality is greater than the material one. More than reason, their main value is faith in God. 

(Hebrews 11:1) Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

The conflict between these two world-views is made evident even today, especially in the western world where Greek thought has prevailed. 

In our next post, we will learn about the consequences of the conflict between these two ways of thinking, in the times of the Maccabees...


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