How Much Hellenism in Jewish Palestine?
In the period from Alexander's conquest to the Maccabean revolt and even thereafter the influence of Greek culture upon the Jews of the Land of Israel was not profound. The predominant language of the Jews was not Greek but Aramaic. In Upper Galilee, in particular, to judge from the inscription...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
1987
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 1986, Volume: 57, Pages: 83-111 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | In the period from Alexander's conquest to the Maccabean revolt and even thereafter the influence of Greek culture upon the Jews of the Land of Israel was not profound. The predominant language of the Jews was not Greek but Aramaic. In Upper Galilee, in particular, to judge from the inscriptions, there was little Hellenization, perhaps because the Jews lived in townlets similar to the shtetlach of Eastern Europe. As for literature in Greek, even Josephus admits that he needed assistants in writing the Jewish War. Moreover, the archaeological evidence shows that the Jews prior to 70 generally refrained from using pagan symbols in art; and even after that date, to judge from the Talmudic tractate Avodah Zarah, the rabbis did not regard idolatry as an immediate problem. Hellenization could hardly have been profound, since we hear of few apostates; on the contrary, there were apparently far more pagans who were attracted to Judaism either as proselytes or as "sympathizers". As for the alleged Greek influence on the rabbis, unlike the case in the medieval period, we know of no one who distinguished himself in philosophy. The fact that the Diaspora did not produce yeshivot or a Mishnah, whereas the Land of Israel did, indicates that there was a distinction in the degree of Hellenization between the Diaspora and the Land of Israel. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
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