Our forefathers, the heroic Cohanim of Modi?in, led a revolt against two separate forces. One force was the Syrian-Greek external, military threat, embodying the oppressive pressures of a foreign world power with its accompanying religious persecution. The other threat was that of Hellenistic assimilation to that foreign culture by their fellow Jews. The two threats eventually came together in the war of the Maccabees, as the Chanukah prayer states: ?You delivered the powerful into the hands of the weak, many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the evil into the hands of the righteous and the rebellious sinners into the hands of those involved in your Torah.?
The external military threat that modern-day Jews face comes from the Arab world and its supporters. While the Arab world immediately surrounding Israel wants to crush the Jewish State, the Western world and the Israeli Left have been giving the Arabs the green light for aggression through their campaigns of appeasement. Foreign and domestic pressures are brought to bear on Israeli leaders, just as there were such pressures on the priests from Modi?in. The pressures are to conform to the will of the ?enlightened?, Western worldview and culture and to abrogate Jewish law, interests and national identity. In the days of the Maccabees, the pressures took the form of coercion to give away the Jewish spiritual inheritance ? the Torah ? by performing pagan rituals. Today, the pressures take the form of coercion to give away the Jewish physical inheritance ? the Land of Israel, by worshipping the ?land-for-peace? concept formalized in agreements signed with the terrorist PLO.
The other threat, which is, in the end, far more insidious precisely because of its surreptitious approach, is Hellenistic assimilation, both here in Zion and in the Diaspora. This form of assimilation is to be distinguished from the type of assimilation that consists of merely dropping out of the Jewish community and joining another one, which is what commonly transpires in the Diaspora. To be sure, there is a great correlation between the two types of assimilation, as Hellenism ultimately leads to a total break with the Jewish people and identity, which is the goal of the post-Zionist Hellenists.
The ancient version of Hellenistic assimilation consisted of using distinctly Jewish vehicles for Greek cultural and religious ideals. For example, the placement of Greek idols in the Temple in Jerusalem capitalized on the centrality the Temple held for Jews in order to proliferate Greek culture. The modern version of such assimilation is largely the same, with fashionable liberal ?political correctness? taking the place of Jewish cultural practices.
Modern Hellenistic assimilation overseas is evident in the involvement of several major American Jewish organizations in issues which are, strictly speaking, irrelevant or even antithetical to any truly Jewishly-focused agenda. Hellenizing, liberal Jewish organizations have fought tooth and nail against school vouchers and school choice, innovations without which it will be difficult for the non-Orthodox Jewish community in the US to survive at all. These same organizations have promoted affirmative action programs that end up discriminating against Jews. Repeatedly, there has even been support for sanctioning the State of Israel. Most egregiously, the ?Liberalism-as-Judaism? form of Hellenism has been adopted as the official religion of part (but not all) of the Reform synagogue movement, as is clear in the activities of the extremist "Religious Action Center" of the Reform movement. It is also present among organizations affiliated with the Conservative synagogue movement and, here and there, one can find it among the Orthodox, as well. It goes without saying that it is the raison d'etre of the Drugs-and-Marxism groups affiliated with Tikkun magazine and its ilk. Too many Jewish organizations seem to promote every PC fashion that comes along. In other words, they use Jewish communal institutions to further American liberal ?enlightenment,? the modern version of that Greek ?enlightenment? fought by the Maccabees.
Hellenistic assimilation in Israel is even more dangerous. Like the American Jewish variety, Israeli Hellenism expresses itself in a mindless leftism, including chasing Western PC fads. In their blind adoption of ?enlightened? attitudes towards Israel and the PLO, Israeli Hellenists have created a suicidal cult surrounding ?peace accords? with the PLO terrorists. While ?the peace process? has assumed the aura of holiness for them, they simultaneously deem observant Jews and anti-Oslo dissidents to be the embodiment of evil. The cult?s devils must be fought with all means, including a politicized judiciary, anti-incitement laws and university faculties under monolithic Leftist hegemony. National self-abasement and self-humiliation appear to be the main motivating force of the modern Israeli Hellenists. Unfortunately, this form of Hellenism is bursting out all over Israel. Like its American variety, it dominates the media and the intellectual establishment in the country.
The golden rule of Jewish history is irony. The irony of an Israeli Hellenism is that Zionism was supposed to create a quantum separation from the psychological pathologies and self-hatred of the Diaspora Jew. Yet, there appears to be a sort of converging of the two main Jewish communities in the world, but it is a convergence towards Hellenism. Israel is, amazingly, increasingly infected by Diaspora self-hatred and schizophrenia.
Therefore, the most important challenge for Jewish survivalists - modern-day Maccabees - throughout the world is the confrontation with the modern re-packaging of an ancient malady: Hellenism. Not to despair, however, as David Wilder, one of the spokesmen for Hebron?s Jewish community recently wrote, ?[On Chanukah] a small group stood up and refused to acquiesce to the terror of those days. Believing in their heritage, in their past and concerned about their future, the Maccabees, an infinitesimal dot as compared to the Greeks and their Jewish Hellenist allies, overturned the seemingly inevitable.?
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Steven Plaut teaches at the Graduate School of Business, University of Haifa, Israel.
Nissan Ratzlav-Katz is an editor for Arutz Sheva?s Israel National News.com.
The external military threat that modern-day Jews face comes from the Arab world and its supporters. While the Arab world immediately surrounding Israel wants to crush the Jewish State, the Western world and the Israeli Left have been giving the Arabs the green light for aggression through their campaigns of appeasement. Foreign and domestic pressures are brought to bear on Israeli leaders, just as there were such pressures on the priests from Modi?in. The pressures are to conform to the will of the ?enlightened?, Western worldview and culture and to abrogate Jewish law, interests and national identity. In the days of the Maccabees, the pressures took the form of coercion to give away the Jewish spiritual inheritance ? the Torah ? by performing pagan rituals. Today, the pressures take the form of coercion to give away the Jewish physical inheritance ? the Land of Israel, by worshipping the ?land-for-peace? concept formalized in agreements signed with the terrorist PLO.
The other threat, which is, in the end, far more insidious precisely because of its surreptitious approach, is Hellenistic assimilation, both here in Zion and in the Diaspora. This form of assimilation is to be distinguished from the type of assimilation that consists of merely dropping out of the Jewish community and joining another one, which is what commonly transpires in the Diaspora. To be sure, there is a great correlation between the two types of assimilation, as Hellenism ultimately leads to a total break with the Jewish people and identity, which is the goal of the post-Zionist Hellenists.
The ancient version of Hellenistic assimilation consisted of using distinctly Jewish vehicles for Greek cultural and religious ideals. For example, the placement of Greek idols in the Temple in Jerusalem capitalized on the centrality the Temple held for Jews in order to proliferate Greek culture. The modern version of such assimilation is largely the same, with fashionable liberal ?political correctness? taking the place of Jewish cultural practices.
Modern Hellenistic assimilation overseas is evident in the involvement of several major American Jewish organizations in issues which are, strictly speaking, irrelevant or even antithetical to any truly Jewishly-focused agenda. Hellenizing, liberal Jewish organizations have fought tooth and nail against school vouchers and school choice, innovations without which it will be difficult for the non-Orthodox Jewish community in the US to survive at all. These same organizations have promoted affirmative action programs that end up discriminating against Jews. Repeatedly, there has even been support for sanctioning the State of Israel. Most egregiously, the ?Liberalism-as-Judaism? form of Hellenism has been adopted as the official religion of part (but not all) of the Reform synagogue movement, as is clear in the activities of the extremist "Religious Action Center" of the Reform movement. It is also present among organizations affiliated with the Conservative synagogue movement and, here and there, one can find it among the Orthodox, as well. It goes without saying that it is the raison d'etre of the Drugs-and-Marxism groups affiliated with Tikkun magazine and its ilk. Too many Jewish organizations seem to promote every PC fashion that comes along. In other words, they use Jewish communal institutions to further American liberal ?enlightenment,? the modern version of that Greek ?enlightenment? fought by the Maccabees.
Hellenistic assimilation in Israel is even more dangerous. Like the American Jewish variety, Israeli Hellenism expresses itself in a mindless leftism, including chasing Western PC fads. In their blind adoption of ?enlightened? attitudes towards Israel and the PLO, Israeli Hellenists have created a suicidal cult surrounding ?peace accords? with the PLO terrorists. While ?the peace process? has assumed the aura of holiness for them, they simultaneously deem observant Jews and anti-Oslo dissidents to be the embodiment of evil. The cult?s devils must be fought with all means, including a politicized judiciary, anti-incitement laws and university faculties under monolithic Leftist hegemony. National self-abasement and self-humiliation appear to be the main motivating force of the modern Israeli Hellenists. Unfortunately, this form of Hellenism is bursting out all over Israel. Like its American variety, it dominates the media and the intellectual establishment in the country.
The golden rule of Jewish history is irony. The irony of an Israeli Hellenism is that Zionism was supposed to create a quantum separation from the psychological pathologies and self-hatred of the Diaspora Jew. Yet, there appears to be a sort of converging of the two main Jewish communities in the world, but it is a convergence towards Hellenism. Israel is, amazingly, increasingly infected by Diaspora self-hatred and schizophrenia.
Therefore, the most important challenge for Jewish survivalists - modern-day Maccabees - throughout the world is the confrontation with the modern re-packaging of an ancient malady: Hellenism. Not to despair, however, as David Wilder, one of the spokesmen for Hebron?s Jewish community recently wrote, ?[On Chanukah] a small group stood up and refused to acquiesce to the terror of those days. Believing in their heritage, in their past and concerned about their future, the Maccabees, an infinitesimal dot as compared to the Greeks and their Jewish Hellenist allies, overturned the seemingly inevitable.?
---------------------------
Steven Plaut teaches at the Graduate School of Business, University of Haifa, Israel.
Nissan Ratzlav-Katz is an editor for Arutz Sheva?s Israel National News.com.