After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, the Greek empire set out to impose its Hellenic culture on all conquered peoples. They did this in a peaceful and persuasive manner, rather than through force as other empires had done in the past. They were so successful that they caused the disappearance of all other religions in the world. This process of universal acculturation is known as Hellenization. The diffusion of Greek cultural and religious ideas also affected the Jews. Those who lived outside of Israel, in Alexandria for example, were the ones who assimilated the quickest. And they began to practice what some historians describe as a “Hellenic Judaism,” a combination of some “humanistic” Jewish ideas stripped of religious rituals and elements of Hellenic culture. This new form of Judaism became the new religion of many Jews in the diaspora. However, the Jews of Israel remained faithful to their traditions. But the coming to power of the new emperor Antiochus (Antiochus) Epiphanes in 215 BCE worsened the situation of these Jews. Antiochus was much more aggressive than his predecessors in his campaign of Hellenic proselytism. And the pressure was so great that many Jews fully assimilated to Hellenism, and others practiced a “light” Judaism adapted to the values of Greek society. As has happened many times in the history of our people, religious assimilation did not come from a theological place but from a social one: assimilated Jews were desperate to be fully accepted by the Greeks, whom they looked at with admiration. And religious rituals were a barrier to social integration into the attractive Greek culture, which was as influential as Hollywood culture in the United States and the world.

Let’s look at some illustrations. Kashrut (kosher), which is the strict Jewish religious diet, created many obstacles and social barriers, limiting the integration of Jews with Greek citizens. If the table could not be shared with Gentile neighbors, Gentiles could not be expected to accept Jews as their equals. And probably, Gentiles would not be willing to marry their daughters to Jewish boys. The practice of Kashrut, then, began to decline. It was shown as something primitive. And negative. Because in the new Hellenic world, the separations between peoples did not look good. Assimilated Jews justified their abandonment of Judaism by stating that “in order to survive, Judaism had to modernize.” With this slogan, also Shabbat and circumcision had to be eliminated because they were considered obsolete. They were rituals that caused division. At this point, there is something important that must be clarified. This assimilation process occurred mainly in the cities, especially in mixed urban areas where Jews and non-Jews lived. The poorer Jews, the peasants residing in towns and villages, were insulated from the influence and social pressures of Gentile society and remained faithful to the Torah.

THE REFORMS OF JASON AND MENELAUS

Knowing that some Jews were still reluctant to abandon their religious practices, Antiochus Epiphanes set out to forcibly Hellenize them. Why? It was a matter of principle. Few and discreet though they were, the Jews who still observed the Torah were, practically speaking, “the only citizens of the Greek empire who openly rejected Hellenism.” Antiojus sought allies among the Jews themselves, those who had already voluntarily Hellenized. And he appointed as High Priest of the Temple of Jerusalem, that is, as the maximum representative of the Jewish religion, an assimilated and easily corruptible Jew: Jason (175 B.C.E.). Later, he replaced him with another priest who was even more corrupt: Menelaus (171 BCE). These new “priests” who were in charge of the Jerusalem Temple were leading the reformation of Judaism. Jason, for example, led a delegation of assimilated Jews who, instead of attending the Bet haMiqdash service on Shabbat, went to the Olympic stadium to watch and participate in the games and competitions. It was not just Jewish ritual practice that was being reformed. Also religious principles and beliefs were subject to reform by these false priests. Jewish monotheism was no exception. The reformers wanted to adapt the most basic Jewish principle, monotheism, and they formulated more flexible and, as we say today, more inclusive religious rules, which would recognize the Greek gods, and then accept that everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike, would offer sacrifices to their gods. gods in the Great Temple of Jerusalem. The corrupt priests argued that monotheistic “fanaticism” was a thing of the ancient Jews, and that if it was not reformed it would hurt the sensibilities of the Greeks. The Jews, the assimilationists argued, should also be more “tolerant” and offer sacrifices to the God of Israel in a slightly more Greek way. For example, also sacrifice animals that were used in Greek rites. This led Menelaus, in the name of the new multiculturalism, to desecrate the Jewish altar in an extreme way: in 170 BCE this “Jewish priest” offered a pig as a sacrifice at the Bet haMiqdash.

HOW TO CAUSE THE JEWISH REBELLION?

Although many Jews remained loyal to their faith, more and more Jews, due to tremendous social pressures, were adopting the path of the Greeks. But in the year 169 B.C.E. a providential event took place, a miracle, which would change the course of Jewish history. Antiojus Epiphanes lost patience. He lashed out at the few Jews who still refused assimilation, and decided it was time to stop being nice, gentle, and persuasive to those “stubborn peasants” who resisted change, and officially decreed a ban on the Jewish practice. . And he ordered his armies to enforce these laws by imposing the death penalty for those who practiced Judaism. However, Antiojus’s attitude had an effect contrary to what he wanted to achieve. This assimilation by decree aroused Jewish pride, even in those who, perhaps unconsciously, were inadvertently assimilating. Unintentionally, Antiochus provoked what was later known as the armed rebellion of the Chashmonayim, who fought not only against the Greeks but also against the Jews who had led the assimilationist movement. If Antiochus Epiphanes had not lost his patience, the assimilation of the Jews would have continued without resistance. The rebellion against the Greek empire would never have happened, and the Jewish people ח”ו might never have recovered from assimilation. It could have disappeared forever, being integrated into the empire, as it happened with all the other religions and civilizations of antiquity. “The impatience of Antiojus” was absolutely providential and should be considered one of the Chanukah miracles.