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

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

ATHENS IN JERUSALEM THE LITTMAN LIBRARY OF JEWISH CIVILIZATION Dedicated to the memory of LOUIS THOMAS SIDNEY LITTMAN who founded the Littman Library for the love of God and as an act ofc harity in memory of his father JOSEPH AARON LITTMAN ",:1 O';:'T Nil' 'Get wisdom, get understanding: Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee' PROV. 4: 5 Jhe Liwnan Lihrary (~/Jewish Civilization is 11 re,{!istered llK charity Registered dUlrity no. lOO07K4 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 Chi~f ExeClltive Officer: Ludo Craddock }"tallagill.!? Editor: COlmie Webber PO Box 645, Oxford OX2 OU] UK www.littmau.co.uk Published ill the UlIited States alld Callada by TIle Uttmall Ubrary ofJ ewish CivilizatioH clo ISBS, 920 NE 58th Avellue, Suite 300 Portlatld, Oregoll 97213-3786 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 All rights reserved. No part if this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trammitted, in any forn! or by any means, without the prior pern!ission in writing if The Liftman Library ifjewish Civilization This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way (!f trade or othenvise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or othenvise circulated !vithout the publishers prior consent in any form qf bitlding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition beillg imposed on the subsequel1t purchaser 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;

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