Hellenism and our Modern Day Pursuit of Culture

By Rabbi Joshua Flug

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I.

Introduction- This shiur outline will provide some ideas about Hellenism, modern culture and its relationship to Chanuka. You might find these articles useful: a. Hellenism and Judaism by R. Shimshon Refael Hirsch (1808-1888). b. Article by R. Shlomo Goren (1917-1994).

II.

Talmudic Sources and Discussions about the wisdom and culture of Yavan a. After the incident with Noach and Cham, Noach blesses with the following beracha: . The Torah then tells us that one of the children of is Yavan. {} i. The Gemara explains that the reason why Greek is the only language suitable for translation of Tanach is that it is part of the beracha that Noach gave to .Although had other children, only the is allowed into the tent of and this refers specifically to Yavan. {} ii. Rashi explains that of all the languages of the children of ,the Greek language is the nicest. {} b. The study of Greek language and wisdom i. The Mishna states that after battling Titus, the rabbis prohibited teaching one's child Greek. {} ii. The Gemara discusses whether it is permissible to study Greek wisdom ( )in light of the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. The answer that is given is that one may only study it at a time which is not day and not night (i.e. it is bitul Torah to study it) {}. 1. Tosafos note that the implication is that the only issue with studying is bitul Torah. What then happened to the prohibition against teaching one's child Greek? Tosafos answer: {} a. The prohibition against studying Greek doesn't apply to someone who is engaged in public affairs and needs to know it. b. Perhaps this discussion predates the rabbinic decree. 2. Shita Mekubetzes notes that there is a machlokes regarding what is included in "}{ ". a. According to R. Meir Abulafia (Ramah, c. 1170-1244), it refers to the study of astrology. b. According to R. Menachem Meiri (1249-1306), it refers to the study of Greek philosophy. Meiri adds that if one is involved in public affairs, one may study these ideas because it is important to know their opinions and certainly one who is a talmid chacham who mastered Torah, may study Greek

philosophy in order to respond to them and strengthen one's own beliefs. c. Greek Culture Represents Darkness i. The Midrash refers to as a period of darkness as the Yevanim told the Jews to write on the horn of an ox: }{ . ii. Megillas Ta'anis records that on the day that the Torah was translated into Greek, there was a period of darkness in the world for three days. {} III. Comments of Rishonim and Acharonim on Greek Culture a. Ramban (1194-1270) criticizes Greek thought for only believing ideas that can be explained scientifically. Anything that can't be understood scientifically can't be true. {} b. R. Yehuda Loew (Maharal c. 1520-1609) writes that the Greek opposition to the Jews was that the Greeks believed that the mind must be able to explore independently without any attachment to something greater. The Divine Torah and the Beis HaMikdash directly opposed that view because they recognize God as the source of everything and everything must be understood through that perspective. {} c. The Vilna Gaon (1720-1797) is quoted as suggesting that Aristotelian philosophy is not based on a search for the truth. Aristotle knew that there is a God and nevertheless, he decided to rebel. {} i. There is a comment in Shulchan Aruch quoting Rambam that there is no such thing as magical or mystical powers. {} ii. The Vilna Gaon takes strong issue with Rambam on this and accuses him of being influenced by Greek philosophy which forced Rambam to take a rationalist approach to understanding certain statements of the Gemara. {} d. R. Moshe Sofer (1762-1839) writes that translating the Torah into Greek led to a period of darkness because it blurred the line between kodesh and chol. Previously, the pathway to all wisdom was the Torah. After the Torah was translated, it was just another book and it became something that one would learn to better understand Aristotle. {} i. R. Yitzchak Isaac HaLevi (1847-1914) suggests that this led to the founding of the Tzedukim. They were basically a group of Hellenists who decided that the primary source of Torah is the Septuagint and weren't interested in studying the original Torah in lashon hakodesh. This made the Torah sheba'al peh totally irrelevant to them. {} e. R. Avraham I. Kook (1865-1935) suggests that the symbolism of the ox ( ) is that Yosef is compared to an ox ( .) The Greeks thought that the Jew should be like Yosef, someone who was assimilated in the secular world. However, they misunderstood Yosef because Yosef wasn't assimilated and he didn't

abandon God; rather, the opposite is true, Yosef was involved in the secular world with a mission of being a teacher to the rest of the world about Godliness. {} f. R. Chaim Ya'akov Goldvicht (1925-1995) writes that Greek culture celebrates a disconnect between wisdom and daily life. The greatest intellectuals can make the greatest fools of themselves through their actions. However, the Torah requires one to be a better person through wisdom. The wisdom is a guide to how to live. The Greeks had no objection to belief in God, but they did have an objection to living a life of Godliness: }{ . g. R. Aharon Kotler (1891-1962) writes that the days of Chanukah are days to reflect on the salvation of God but also to reflect on the rejection of Greek culture. The miracle of Chanukah served as an escape from Hellenism and we have to be appreciative of that as much as the physical salvation of the war. {} h. R. Yitzchak Hutner (1906-1980) writes that Greek wisdom was considered to be of a high quality and that is why the Greek translation of the Torah is the only acceptable translation. At the same time, the Greeks failed to understand that the study of science must be understood from the perspective that nature is an expression of the will of God. They lacked that perspective and that is why causes darkness. [I.e., the knowledge base that they acquired was valuable in order to understand Torah, but the Greeks didn't use that knowledge for the right purpose.] {} i. A common theme in many of these comments is that we can accept elements of Greek culture and wisdom as long as it comes from a Torah perspective. We must first accept that tenets of Torah and then we can see what elements of wisdom and culture can be incorporated into our lives. There is a comment of Rabbeinu Bachya (13th century) that expresses this idea nicely. He notes that if one is going to explore other fields of wisdom, one should first be steeped in knowledge of Torah and this is why nature is called because one can sink ( )into its murky waters without the proper perspective and then one's understanding of Torah will be clouded by science, with a need to scientifically explain even the greatest of miracles. {}

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