It was a battle for the soul of the Jewish people. On one side were the Hellenists, who today would be called modernists. They were enamored of Greek culture, with its emphasis on physical beauty and sensual pleasure, and its exaltation of the human mind as the supreme arbiter of truth. Opposing them were the Maccabees, who today might be known as fundamentalists. The Maccabees made their stand on the eternal truths of the Torah, and proclaimed that the Covenant with God was of far greater value than all the manmade philosophies that had ever been invented.
The Hellenists seemed to have most of the advantages. They were more numerous and had greater wealth and resources. They had more political power, greater cultural influence, and higher social standing. They even had powerful foreign allies who supported their cause. But they lacked one thing. God did not favor them. That was because they were trying to steer the Jewish nation in a direction in which He didn't want it to go.
It's not that the Hellenists were intrinsically evil or ill-intentioned. They simply failed to understand the most important truth about life: that God created the world to achieve His purposes, not ours, and the fact that a certain way of life seems right to Man does not mean that it's acceptable to Him. Especially if a nation has sealed a Covenant with Him to serve Him exclusively.
The Maccabees won that conflict, and thereby ensured the continuation of our faith. Today, we celebrate the victory of the Maccabees, and we don't mourn the defeat of the Hellenists. But now we're engaged in a similar struggle based on very similar issues. Again we're being told that traditional Judaism is obsolete, that our future lies in embracing the values and attitudes of "enlightened" Western civilization, and that the only way to fully join that civilization is to cast off our Jewish heritage and make ourselves indistinguishable from the Gentiles. We're also told that the Covenant no longer applies, that the Land of Israel is not really ours, and that if we have to surrender large parts of it to our neighbors in order to make peace with them, so be it. Besides, if we become too weak, we can always depend on the international community to save us.
At the other end of the spectrum we have the brave settlers, who risk their lives every day to establish the principle that the Covenant is as valid today as it was the day it was given on Mt. Sinai, and that living on the land that God promised us is an eternal right that no man can take away from us.
All the conflicts we now face, both internal and external, are designed to force us to decide in which direction we want to go. Will we remain true to God and the Covenant, or will we abandon both for the prospect of short term material gain and perhaps a brief period of tranquility?
For those who choose the former, there are two things we need to do:
Fear God more than we fear our enemies.
Trust God more than we trust our friends.
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Martin Wasserman is a software developer and former radio show host in California?s Silicon Valley. He can be reached at DeeperLook@aol.com.
The Hellenists seemed to have most of the advantages. They were more numerous and had greater wealth and resources. They had more political power, greater cultural influence, and higher social standing. They even had powerful foreign allies who supported their cause. But they lacked one thing. God did not favor them. That was because they were trying to steer the Jewish nation in a direction in which He didn't want it to go.
It's not that the Hellenists were intrinsically evil or ill-intentioned. They simply failed to understand the most important truth about life: that God created the world to achieve His purposes, not ours, and the fact that a certain way of life seems right to Man does not mean that it's acceptable to Him. Especially if a nation has sealed a Covenant with Him to serve Him exclusively.
The Maccabees won that conflict, and thereby ensured the continuation of our faith. Today, we celebrate the victory of the Maccabees, and we don't mourn the defeat of the Hellenists. But now we're engaged in a similar struggle based on very similar issues. Again we're being told that traditional Judaism is obsolete, that our future lies in embracing the values and attitudes of "enlightened" Western civilization, and that the only way to fully join that civilization is to cast off our Jewish heritage and make ourselves indistinguishable from the Gentiles. We're also told that the Covenant no longer applies, that the Land of Israel is not really ours, and that if we have to surrender large parts of it to our neighbors in order to make peace with them, so be it. Besides, if we become too weak, we can always depend on the international community to save us.
At the other end of the spectrum we have the brave settlers, who risk their lives every day to establish the principle that the Covenant is as valid today as it was the day it was given on Mt. Sinai, and that living on the land that God promised us is an eternal right that no man can take away from us.
All the conflicts we now face, both internal and external, are designed to force us to decide in which direction we want to go. Will we remain true to God and the Covenant, or will we abandon both for the prospect of short term material gain and perhaps a brief period of tranquility?
For those who choose the former, there are two things we need to do:
Fear God more than we fear our enemies.
Trust God more than we trust our friends.
--------------------------------------------------------
Martin Wasserman is a software developer and former radio show host in California?s Silicon Valley. He can be reached at DeeperLook@aol.com.