Athens in Jerusalem: Classical Antiquity and Hellenism in the Making of the Modern Secular Jew (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

578 Pages·50.461 MB·English

by  Yaakov Shavit, translated by Chaya Naor, Niki Werner

ATHENS IN JERUSALEM
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JEWISH CIVILIZATION
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LOUIS THOMAS SIDNEY LITTMAN
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ATHENS IN
JERUSALEM
•
CLASSICAL ANTIQ!JITY AND
HELLENISM IN THE MAKING OF
THE MODERN SECULAR JEW
•
YAACOV SHAVIT
Translated by
CHA Y A N AOR AND NIKI WERNER
Oxford . Portland, Oregon
The Littman Library ofJ ewish Civilization
TI,e Uttmall Ubrary ofJewisil Civilizatioll
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Hebrew edition © AI1I Oved Publishers Ltd, Tel Aviv 1992
First published in English 1997
El1glish edition)irst issued il1 paperback 1999
First digital on-demand edition 2012
Erlglish tramlatiol1 © The Liftmal1 Library ifjewish Civilization 1997
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A catalogue record for this book is availablefrol1l the British Library
The Library if Congress catalogued the hardback edition as follows:
Shavit,jacob
[Yahadut bi-re'i ha-Yapanut ve-hqfa 'at ha-Yehudi ha-Helenis(i ha-nwdemi, English}
Athem ill Jerusalem: classical antiquity and Hellenism in the nwkillg (!f the
l1Iodem secular je/v / Yaacov Shavit; translated by Chaya Naor al1d Nib We",er.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical r~rerences al1d il1dex.
1. Judaism-ReiatiOlls-Creek. 2. Greecc~Religion
3. Jews-Civilization-Creek in./luences. 4. judaisl1l-Modern period, 1750-
5. Historiography. I. Title.
BJH506.G7S513 1997 296.]'7-dC2J 97-9809 CIP r97
ISBl,' 978-1-874774-36-5
Desigll: Pete Russell, Faringdon, Oxon.
Printed in Great Britain by Lightnil1g Source UK, Milton Keynes,
in the Utlited States by Lightning Source US, La Ve~ne, Tennessee,
and ;n Australia by Lighming Source Australia, Scoresby, Victoria
This book has been printed digitally al1d produced in a
stalldard specification ill order to ensure its «>rItillUillg availability.
Then too, 'twill chance
That mi"or unto mirror may hand on
A single image, till e'en multiplied
Five or sixjold the likeness will appear.
LUCRETIUS, De Rerum Natura, iv. 326-7,
trans. Chas. E. Bennett, 183
Since that day when many of our maskilim began to look only to the
outside, they began to fashion all the sights they saw there beyond
the boundaries of their nation, into a pattern and a programme for
all the affairs ofI srael.
ZE 'EV JAWITZ, 'Olamot overim ve'olam omed'
('Worlds Pass and a World Remains')
And then the judges began to judge the ways of this people and to
compare them with the Greeks. And it would not be surprising if there
were many among them who gave the Greeks priference.
PERETZ SMOLENSKIN, 'Et lata'at' ('A Time to Plant' [Ecd. 3: 2])

PREFCE
T HIS book is more than a translation of my Hebrew book, published in
1992. In preparing the English version, I not only expanded and improved
on it in several aspects; I also corrected those points that required cor
rection, and tried to be more precise in the concepts and terms I used.
In consequence this is in many respects a vastly different book from that
published in Hebrew.
When I began writing this book, almost six years ago, its general
structure, scope, and central ideas were quite clear to me; I was familiar
with some of the literature dealing with its main topic and related topics,
but it had not occurred to me that the relevant literature was so vast. I
am not referring only to academic works but to all those numerous texts
in which the world of Judaism is linked, in one way or another, with
classical antiquity and Hellenism. I very soon found myself as the reverse
of Hemingway's old man: I had a skeleton, but in order to put skin and
bones on it, I had to throw my net into the large ocean of texts. In the
course of the years during which I wrote and rewrote this book, I cast
my net again and again-and each time I discovered how full the sea is. I
also had to resolve to throw back into the sea many fish that already were
or subsequently became familiar to me; for example, I had to forgo citing
many works of philosophy, theology, semantics, and psychosemantics. On
the other hand, I tried to haul in those fish that were not so well known, or
were dispersed in different waters. But I have no doubt that the number of
references to the subject is immense and many fish still remain in the large
sea of texts. While I believe that a few more of these texts could enrich
the evidence presented in this book, they would not change its skeletal
structure or its key ideas.
The main subject of this study is Jewish history, but I truly believe that
even a zealous classicist may fmd it interesting and enriching to see the
diverse, and often strange, fields to which the classical heritage was borne
and in which it was transplanted. It also seems to me that anyone interested
in the history of classical culture and its heritage will be intrigued by the
question of how these were reflected in the world of images of Judaism,
which is after all the only culture to accompany classical antiquity in all its
many transformations and ramifications, from the time of Homer to the
present day.
I was fortunate to have Dr Leofranc Holford-Strevens as my editor. He
viii PREFACE
not only read the manuscript with a critical eye, saving me from many
errors, but also made available to me the treasurehouse of his phenome
nal knowledge in so many fields. Since classical antiquity was for me in
many respects an alien sea, he was my Lynceus, guiding me through these
boundless waters. Many references to classical literature (but not only to
classical literature) are the fruit of his generous contribution. I do hope he
will not object to my saying that in many respects the book is his hardly
less than it is mine. I really regret that now that the work is completed,
our prolonged exchange of e-mail queries and answers, which enriched
me in so many regards, has come to its end.
Tel Aviv University Y AACOV SHAVIT
1996
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I FIRST began writing this book during my stay in Bonn and Bad Godes
berg (1986-7), and I am pleased once more to express my gratitude to
Edith and Dr Heinrich Pfeiffer for their hospitality. In the summer of
1989, Dr Barbara and Professor Peter Schafer not only extended me their
warm hospitality in Berlin but also allowed me the use of their rich lib
rary, which was of indispensable help in broadening my knowledge of the
Second Temple period. I owe thanks to my colleagues and friends who
read the manuscript and made invaluable comments, and even saved me
from falling into the grave errors that anyone venturing to grapple with this
complex issue is likely to commit. In particular, I am grateful to Professor
Aharon Oppenheimer and Nili Oppenheimer, who were always willing to
spare the time to help me resolve questions relating to talmudic literature.
To Professor Itamar Even-Zohar I am grateful for intellectual input and
for friendship, to Professor Uriel Rappaport for his comments on Part Ill.
My thanks go to Professor Aryeh Kasher for putting at my disposal the
manuscript of his translation of Against Apion; he too also encouraged
me and was ready to answer my queries concerning the literature of the
Second Temple period. I am indebted to Professor Avraham Shapira for
his assistance and encouragement. To Dr Nicholas de Lange I owe a debt
of gratitude for the initiative that gave me the opportunity of rewriting
this book for an English version. Mrs Connie Webber closely followed
my work on the book throughout in detail; I am grateful to her for her
attention and interest, but above all for her faith in its merit.
DeserVing of special mention are Professor Benjamin Harshav and Bar
bara Harshav, who encouraged me to put pen to paper; I should also like
to thank Mr Stanley Holwitz for his kindness and interest, and Professor
David Shavit (De Kalb, Ill.) for his valuable bibliographical assistance. I am
also grateful to Professor Dan Amir, the Rector ofTel Aviv University, for
his assistance, and to Professor Yoram Dinstein, the President of Tel Aviv
University, from whom I received the most precious of all gifts: moral
support.
I also wish to thank Chaya Naor and Niki Werner, the translators, for
their excellent translation, as well as for their untiring patience in the face of
the additions and changes I repeatedly introduced into the text. Tragically,
Niki died without seeing the book published. I am also grateful to my
wife Zohar, who has always been a source of support and encouragement;