The holiday of Chanukah celebrates the Israelites’ defeat of the mighty Syrian Greeks in the second century BCE. It was not just a physical battle but a spiritual one. Unlike many other enemies throughout Jewish history, the Greeks’ primary goal wasn’t killing all the Jews, but rather making them less Jewish. The Greeks arrogantly considered their culture and beliefs superior to all others, and after they occupied the Jewish homeland they tried to impose their own ideology on the native people. Many of the Jews complied, but a small group known as the Maccabees rejected Greek culture and fought for their faith and their God.
But why was it so necessary to reject Greek culture? The Greeks undeniably excelled in art, literature, athletic prowess and physical attractiveness. These fields of human achievement are part of the world God created, and aren’t necessarily harmful in themselves. The problem was the Greeks’ priorities. They elevated beauty above all else, creating a shallow and materialistic society. Judaism on the other hand is an internal religion. What’s important is not how we look, but rather how we think and behave. The Kotzker Rebbe (1787-1859) said “Many things in the world appear beautiful. However, their beauty does not endure. After one has seen them often, their grandeur and desirability fades. Only things that pertain to God, who endures forever, have eternal beauty.”
Our mission as Jews is a spiritual one. We elevate the world by serving God and making the mundane holy. Beauty for beauty’s sake is empty if it’s not used to serve and thank our Creator.
Image: “Alexander the Great in the Temple of Jerusalem” by Sebasiano Conca, c. 1736
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