The intention of the Greeks on
Chanukah was rooted in something much deeper than decrees that Greeks imposed
upon us in attempts to conform us to secular, Greek culture. In Al Hanisim,
which we say in davening, it says that they attempted to make us forget our
knowledge of torah. What’s interesting is that the ban on learning torah was
just one decree, yet we set it aside as the over-arching intention of the
Greeks. Firstly, what lead us to believe that, despite the additional decrees
against the observing of Shabbat and circumcision, their main focus was the
attack on torah? Secondly, the Greeks were exceptionally smart. Rambam himself knew and was even
influenced by the brilliance of Greek philosophy. How could it be that a nation
so intelligent wouldn’t find the torah appealing? Some of the smartest men in
history have dedicated their lives to its in depth studies and philosophies. We
seemed to be very attracted to their wisdom, but they didn’t appreciate the
significance of ours.
Fortunately, the Chanukah story has
such a strong parallel with the entire fifth book of Harry Potter that we may
be able to understand the Greek mindset by looking in The Order of the Phoenix. First we need to substitute a few roles.
Replace the leading force behind the harsh decrees and oppressive conditions
put on the Jews with the one who did the same to Hogwarts (Antiochus with
Fudge). Replace the second in command who carefully followed the instructions
of their leader as well as implemented a few of their own tortures against the
Jews with the one who did the same to Hogwarts (Army general with Umbridge). Replace
the group of people who were behind the attempt to manipulate the Jews into
seeing their opinions as the real truth with the group who was doing the same to
the wizarding world (Greeks with the ministry). Replace the Jews who turned on
their fellows and joined the opposing force with the students who did the same
(Mityavnim with the Inquisitorial Squad). Replace the elderly, brilliant, and
dominant leader behind the oppositional Jewish army with the one who played the
same role behind Hogwarts’ army (Matityahu son of Yochanan Kohen Gadol with
Albus Percifel Wulfric Brian Dumbledore). Replace the strong army leader who
led the Jews to victory with the one who did the same for Hogwarts (Yehuda with
Harry). Lastly, replace the outnumbered, under experienced Jewish army with the
outnumbered, under experienced Hogwarts army (Maccabiim with Dumbledore’s
Army). The story behind these characters are nearly identical.
Whenever Umbridge felt a lack of
control or a threat to the ministry’s way of thinking, there would be a new
decree mandating certain behavior or prohibiting certain actions. The decrees
were more than a list of things you couldn’t do. They were designed to instill
a sense of complete subservience to the ministry and, by extension,
discretization of Dumbledore. There was no validity behind Dumbledore’s claims
when the ministry portrayed him as a powerless fool. The Decrees were meant to
assure a complete dismissal of any claims of Voldemort’s return. That being
said, Fudge was the minister of magic. He wasn’t stupid, despite what almost
everything we know about him would indicate. There are disappearances, dark
marks, eye-witness testimony, unexplainable deaths, rouge dementors, and things
were starting to feel a lot like the last time. Snape showed him that the dark
mark had returned to his arm, which can only mean the Dark Lord’s return! How
could fudge not see what was right in front of him?
Of course he knew the truth! We even have a few clear
glimpses of Fudge being on the border of listening to reason. Dumbledore gives
him a very strong speech in the end of the fourth book, and Fudge revealed what
was actually going through his head.
-It seemed Fudge could think of no
answer to this. He rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a moment
and spun his bowler hat in his hands. Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea
in his voice, “He can’t be back, Dumbledore, he just can’t be…”
That’s not what someone who
honestly does not believe that Voldemort had returned sounds like. That’s what
someone who knows the truth but is too terrified to admit it sounds like. Fudge
remembered the conditions of Voldemort’s last reign of terror. He knew that
accepting Voldemort’s return meant accepting a reality that he was absolutely
terrified of dealing with. He needed to
eliminate all traces of the fact the Voldemort had returned so he could go on
living his lie in a state of comfort.
That was exactly the Greek mindset.
They obviously recognized the brilliance of the torah! Alexander himself
refrained from attacking the Jews because of the respect he had for the Rabbis
and their torah. His successors took a different approach. There’s a famous
story of R’ Akiva and Tarnus Rufus where TR came to R’ Akiva and asked what was
better the creation of man or the creation of god. R’ Akiva responded that the
creation of man was better. His proof was that people would prefer to eat a
cake over a piece of wheat. R’ Akiva revealed to him that he knew TR wanted to
lead him into a trap. He was going to ask why Jews do circumcision if that
alters the way god created someone. Hashem puts things into the world and gives
us the ability to improve them, but the idea of circumcision is completely
against the Greek ideology. The Greeks worshipped physicality. They glorified
the human body in its natural state. Sports were played without clothing to
show off the perfection of the human body, and their arts reflected the same
obsession with physicality. Their gods were simply more powerful humans who
looked and acted like normal men and women. That was the reality they knew and
loved. The Greeks, like Fudge, were not so blind that they couldn’t see the truth
of what was in front of them, but the acceptance of the torah’s reality would
be terrifying. Their lives were based on the significance of physicality, and
to imagine a god who wasn’t “corporeal” (reference to the fifth intended), and
a religion based on spirituality would have shook their entire world. They needed to eliminate all traces of the
torah so they could go on living their lie in a state of comfort.
That’s the depth behind the
decrees. They didn’t just outlaw Shabbat, circumcision, and torah because it
made the Jews too different from them. Their actions were a reflection of a
deeper desire to remove torah from the world so they wouldn’t have to face it.
The second they gave in to the torah, they’d be accepting a reality that they
were absolutely terrified of dealing with.
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