Rabbi Kook notes that it is not by chance that the Hasmomean
revolt, which brought the rededication of the Temple and the holiday of Ḥanukka,
was led by Kohanim.
In Greek philosophy there were two distinct and separate
approaches. One was to develop the powers of nature. Indeed, the Greeks
developed a worship of sports and the culture of body, virtually deifying the
body. The second possibility was to abstain from the physical and natural
worlds to devote oneself to the spiritual. The Greeks saw a complete dichotomy
between the physical and spiritual spheres.
The Jewish attitude, as expressed in the verse (Exodus
19:6): “you shall be for Me a kingdom of priests” stood in total opposition to
the Greek view. “Kingdom” deals with temporal administration, while “priests”
deal with the spiritual realm. The verse clearly states the ideal of combining
and unifying the temporal and the spiritual. The continuation of the verse “and
a holy nation” carries the ideal to the ultimate level. Not only a select few,
but the entire nation, no matter what manner of work occupies them, can achieve
the level of holiness.
Philosophically, the Greeks were unable to accept the Jewish
approach which strives for a complete union and synthesis of the earthly and
the heavenly, which sees the body ideally as a spiritual base and which asserts
that nature can be imbued with sanctity.
The Hasmoneans, endowed with the holiness of Aaron, rose to
battle the Greeks and their philosophy. Those who, with God’s help, succeeded
in returning the crown of kingdom to Israel also represent the spiritual
struggle. Those who fought with physical bravery were also the defenders of the
spirit and soul of Israel, of Israel’s purity and its temple.
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