A gym and a theater on every street corner - what's wrong with that picture?

Lio: We tried to kill ourselves first. We tried to kill each other. Exactly. It's always us. It's always us. And it's the job of the new generation each time to become a new generation of Jews, meaning I think a new generation of showing unity above all these things. I bet that the attention is going to turn to the Jews pretty quickly.

Seth: The Jews saw them all, beat them all. And he is now what he always was. All things are mortal, but the Jew. All other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?

Lio: Okay, listen, enough of that sht. This is a podcast, and we're not gonna try to find, we're gonna find the solution to antisemitism, okay? We're gonna stop that right here, right now, from this stinking basement. When we get to the bottom of this, we're gonna read from this mystery book, which you're not gonna find out about until the end of the series, and we're gonna really entertain every perspective. We're not gonna say, oh, you can't say this, you can't say that. No, we're gonna say everything because if we're not gonna be able to talk about it, not gonna be able to solve it. You know, we're gonna really grab you in the kish and we're gonna squeeze until we get something, right? Either a bowel movement or a freaking solution. We want to know what happened, what happened 3,500 years ago in Babylon that started. Of this whole, and we want to finish it here in 2020. That's it.

Seth: Well, last week we talked about there's this missing period in our history, and it's presumed that no. Nobody tried to kill us, that's why nobody wrote about it. Let's pick it up here. From being a role model to the nations, it took the Jews less than 80 years to become embroiled in the first of two civil wars. Today we call this war the Hasmonean Revolt and celebrate Hanukkah to commemorate our victory over the Greeks, but in truth, the events were far less festive than the current narrative surrounding the festival of Hanukkah.

Lio: That's the thing that always gets by the way, we're reading chapter three. And this is The Jew Function. You know, we're trying to figure out what's going on, why this fascination with the Jews, why this antisemitism, what will solve it. And even though we're kind of in the throes of this new era in human history, COVID and all of that, I bet that the attention is going to turn to the Jews pretty quickly. So it's worth listening. Maybe we can learn something. Maybe if we can read the book fast enough, we can learn what to do before it gets really hairy. But let's dive into this period, the Hellenistic period. There's a lot of talk about that. We'll maybe read some more today.

Seth: The first time I read this book, I was so surprised. I went through all of those footnotes at the back, endnotes, whatever they're called. I couldn't believe what I was reading because I grew up hearing, I mean, you have these kinds of stories, okay, there's some deeper aspect of the story or whatever, but it was always so clear that, okay, well, the Greeks tried to kill us, and you know, we won. Okay, let's eat. Okay, there we go. You, the Romans tried to kill us, and then we won. And so, okay, then we have a holiday. But it turns out we tried to kill ourselves first. We tried to kill each other. Not ourselves. We tried to kill each other. And this is kind of what allowed the enemy, so to speak, into the gates. Right. It's sobering how everything is in our own

Lio: hands. I think that's the part that's hardest to bear, I think. When I try to talk to Jewish people, Jewish leaders, activists about the division in the Jewish community, nobody wants to talk about it.

Seth: Nobody wants

Lio: to admit that somehow we have something to do with what's going on, and it has to do with that.

Seth: kind of almost convince someone or have someone understand, but then comes like something like the coronavirus, right? And all of a sudden, it's like, doesn't matter how big your army is, it's like, shh, quiet, sit down. I'm thinking about all of the music that was popular yesterday. Or last week, who cares about how many cars you have, and how many people you were with, and how much bling, and who cares? So much of that stuff just seems irrelevant now. Like Nature, Creator, God, whatever, has a way in a second of just getting someone to realize something. So, this thing that I felt like three weeks ago, or however many, when we started this thing, like, how are people gonna listen to this? Now, all of a sudden, it's like, well, maybe they're sitting at home now. They're ready to hear something different.

Lio: Yeah, yeah. And by the way, I think we already saw it last week. We hear voices in the media talking about already some forces starting to connect coronavirus with Jews. But let's really get into that period in history. Let's put ourselves into Judea.

Voice: The only people we ate more than the Romans are the Judean People's Front.

Lio: front

Voice: and the Judean People's Front

Voice: and the People's

Voice: Front of Judea. The People's Front of Judea, splitters! We're the People's Front of Judea! Oh, I thought we were the Popular Front. People's Front! Whatever happened to the Popular Front, man? He's over there.

Seth: Okay, where are we?

Lio: So this is Judea. We're about two hundred years before the Common Era. It's before Jesus, yeah, yeah. Before that Jew. It's a very interesting time. The Greeks are coming in. Jews are living where at this point? Well, they're in the kingdom of Judea, that's really what remained, right? The first temple, ex, ten tribes disappear. You know, two tribes

Seth: come back. So, Judah, those two tribes are still living there.

Lio: Well, they came back from Babylon. These people were allowed to come back and they rebuilt the temple

Voice: after the Purim

Lio: story. Exactly. They get the Cyrus Declaration. Go here, take some money. You're unified. You're united. I love you.

Seth: Right. That they supported us.

Lio: Yes,

Seth: Cyrus supported the Jews to go build the temple. Exactly. So go. They build the

Lio: temple. There's a great awakening. They become a beacon. Remember, we read last week how there was like you come to Jerusalem, nobody was like, you needed an

Voice: oven, here's an oven, the bed. The festival music,

Lio: here's the whole thing. And then Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, calls them and says, teach me, your secrets, translate the

Voice: Bible.

Lio: This was like the golden era, right? So now, now we're getting into about the time that the Greeks started

Seth: In our 4,000-year history, we had an 80-year golden era. No, 200, 200. Don't be such a

Lio: 200 is not

Seth: a good ratio.

Lio: It's actually, you know, when you read the Bible, it's usually, and the land was quiet for 40 years. The land was quiet. It's usually, it's not a lot. So we should be happy, you know. We had a good run from the 8

Voice: We had a

Seth: good run there.

Lio: So this is Judea, and it's a strategic point between the Seleucid Empire and the Egyptian Empire. It's right in the middle, right? Seleucid, like where Syria is, and then Egypt, and we're in the middle. During the reign of

Seth: Antiochus III the Great, Judea was ruled by the Seleucid Empire but enjoyed almost complete autonomy. The Jews could lead their lives however they chose as long as they paid their taxes to the king. Simple. Antiochus the Great was grateful to the Jews for helping him in his war against Ptolemy IV and his son Ptolemy V, and considered it his duty to guard the autonomy of the Jews, to show his appreciation for their assistance and his reverence for their way of life, Antiochus wrote a formal letter permitting the Jews to live according to their ways. He wrote, quote, on account of their piety towards God. He decided to bestow on them as a pension for their temple work 20,000 pieces of silver. In addition to abundance of fine flour and wheat and salt.

Lio: So, right? Let's just remind: piety towards God, you know, the law of nature, unity. When Jews are united, you get pension, social security.

Seth: When Antiochus III the Great died, his firstborn son, Seleucus IV, succeeded him. Seleucus kept the status quo with the Jews, who continued to live untroubled in Judea.

Lio: Far so good.

Seth: In 175 BC, Seleucus IV died, and Antiochus IV succeeded him. Initially, Antiochus had no intention to change the status quo of Jud, but Some Jews had other plans, and from here matters went quickly downhill. By the time Epiphanes came to power, many Jews

Lio: were Epiphanes is Antiochus. That's the guy. Antiochus Epiphanes

Seth: That the same guy? Wait, that's the guy,

Lio: yeah.

Seth: Many Jews were already displeased with the traditional Jewish ways of life. All around the kingdom of Judea, writes Paul Johnson, the historian, Hellenization was happening. It happened at Shechem, in Marissa, in Philadelphia, which was Am and Gamal across the Jordan. Eventually, a ring of such cities swarming with Greeks and semi-Greeks surrounded Jewish Samaria and Judah, which were seen as mountainous, rural, and backward. Antique survivors and anachronism soon to be swept away in the modern tide of the Hellenistic ideas.

Lio: We're kind of looking for these things as principles in nature, maybe inside of us. these alluring ideas of the Greeks philosophizing abstract concepts about this and that and theorizing. Freeing your mind, it's that kind of

Seth: also if what they're calling this Jewish ideal was becoming kind of antique, antiquated, and old-fashioned, then it means to me that it wasn't alive enough anymore for this new kind of expression of humanity. I mean, the Greeks, whatever this law is, it's a law for all, this law of unity, this law of connection and love is a law for everything. So, if the Greeks are advancing and this unity of love is not, you know, if the unity, this concept of love was okay, you know, for a smaller ego, for a smaller group of people, but now there's fashion and gymnasiums and this and this and like where how does the unity come into this new expression? And if it's not coming

Voice: fast enough,

Seth: then it seems old-fashioned.

Lio: Try to keep up. So that's kind of like the story that's happening here. The Jews started to establish this reform party, right? I think Johnson writes about

Seth: it. Seeing what was happening around them, the Jews established what Johnson called a Jewish reform party who wanted to force the pace of Hellenization.

Lio: Yeah, let's just do it faster.

Seth: Yeah. Okay. Just as the contemporary reform movement that started in Germany strove to strip Judaism of Jewish customs, or at least mitigate them, and place the focus on its ethics, their forefathers strove to, quote, reduce it to its ethical core.

Lio: Yeah, sounds familiar in

Seth: America

Lio: as well, right? I mean, there's

Seth: to accelerate the Hellenization of Judea, the leaders of the reform

Voice: movement. Jason,

Seth: whose goals and modus operandi were very similar to today's Reformed Judaism. He joined hands with King Antiochus Epiphanes, and he was anxious to speed up the Hellenization of his dominions because he thought it would raise tax revenues as he was chronically short of money for his wars. Jason paid Epiphanes a hefty sum of money, and in return, the latter ousted the incumbent high priest in Jerusalem, nice, and handed the position over to Jason. Jason went to work straight away. He turned Jerusalem into a palace, renamed it Antiochia, constructed a gymnasium at the foot of the Temple Mount. It's great. Just as the reform movement did in Germany as soon as it was given emancipation in the early 1870s. Wow. The reformers in antiquity aspired to adapt Judaism to modernity. Eventually, reformed Jews are the only ones who are going to even listen to our podcast, and already we're

Lio: I know. But again, we're not pointing any fingers, although the name sounds very similar. I think, again, I think the line we're

Voice: trying to

Lio: Well, no, what we're trying to say is like, it's kind of like try to imagine yourself. You're seeing this manifestation of what we call a Jew. I remember the same thing, right? I grew up in Israel. I come out of school and there you have these Jews wearing these black robes and funny hats and funny socks and they're, Hey, come put on tefillin, and I had like no inner meaning of that action, no idea what this action symbolizes, like what's what is that even about? I just felt that these bunch of people who were stuck in the 1800s were trying to tell me, someone enlightened from the 20th century, what to do, how to behave. And I think it's the exact same thing that's happening. People,

Seth: we lose touch with that inner concept, with that higher form of existence. So you have one group who's becoming Hellenistic. You have another group that's like really holding on to what it looked like at the time when it was actually, when there was that attainment. And then there's like maybe nobody left who is actually really living it.

Lio: Yeah, that's

Seth: kind of the state. Besides making Jerusalem more like the capital of the Seleucid Empire, Seleucia, they abandoned ancient Jewish customs that related to the temple and stopped circumcising male

Lio: babies. Right, exactly. Makes total sense. I don't get it. I don't know what it means. I don't have a feeling of why it's important. Again, not as a custom or ritual, but as a symbol of some inner truism, inner

Seth: higher state, so good. And they started imitating the practices of the other nations. But far worse than the abandonment of their customs, when the Jews turned Hellenists, they also abandoned their unity. Even among the Hellenists, fights erupted. Between supporters of Jason and supporters of Menelaus. The rest of the people who preferred to maintain the Jewish spirit that had earned them respect from Ptolemy and Antiochus III the Great wanted neither leadership and were growing increasingly rebellious. In 171 BCE, Menelaus did to Jason just what he had done to the high priest

Voice: before him. Exactly.

Seth: He paid Antiochus Epiphanes a hefty sum of money.

Lio: There's always a hefty sum of money somewhere.

Seth: Who in turn anointed him to be the high priest in Jerusalem? And a year or so later, Jason and his supporters tried to retake the priesthood, but with the help of Antiochus, Menelaus, who was even more pro-Greek than Jason managed to maintain his position. So now you got Jews paying money to Greeks to help them overthrow the high priest to become the high priest.

Lio: This is the second time it's already happened.

Seth: Yet Antiochus Epiphanes' help cost the Jews heavily. On his way back from the failed campaign against the Egyptian Pharaoh...

the new ruler at a very young age.

Seth

Exactly. They try to continue their influence, leveraging the power of the Seleucid Empire against their fellow Jews. It's fascinating to see how history repeats itself in various forms. The details and the characters might change, but the overarching themes remain the same. Whether it's inner conflicts or external pressures, these struggles continually shape the course of our communities and beliefs.

Lio

Yeah, and it's vital to understand these patterns and reflect on them because they offer insights into our present-day dynamics. By recognizing these historical cycles, we have the opportunity to learn and potentially alter the patterns that no longer serve us.

Seth

Right. It's about identifying those destructive cycles and consciously working to find unity and mutual understanding instead. Only then can we hope to break down the barriers that divide us.

Lio: Back then, you know, the saying "The king is dead, long live the king," right? They didn't go through four rounds of elections. It was basically whoever was there. They went to him and said, "Well, not to be neglected under the great hardships that lay upon them from those of their own nation as they suffered on his father's account while they left the religious worship of their fathers and preferred that which he had commanded them to follow." It was a lie because Antiochus never told them to follow his religion. It was Jason who initially approached Epiphanes, asking him to force Hellenism in Judea. They said, "Well, listen, there's danger lest the citadel and those appointed to garrison it by the king should be taken by Judah." Unless he would send them assistance. And, of course, he was not 12; I'm sorry, he was nine. So the king was

Voice: nine.

Lio: The king was nine. So he believed

Voice: them.

Lio: And he sent them help. He sent about a hundred thousand footmen, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two elephants. They basically came and conquered every city on the way. After starving Jerusalem, they almost got it. Jerusalem was under siege and hungry. Suddenly, they were under threat from Persia, so the king made peace with the besieged people, offering them freedom of worship and self-governance. Boom, they accepted the offer, dealt with the Persians, and took with them the high priest Menelaus, as they said this man was the origin of all the mischief the Jews had done them by persuading his father to compel the Jews to leave the religion of their fathers. So, basically, they took him away. Antiochus V restored religious freedom. That's really the end of the Hasmonean revolt when he executed Menelaus. So, you know, that's the end

Seth: of what we're saying here.

Lio: I don't know. I mean, this was a very historic kind of episode. I think what I'm asking is, could this all be happening over and over again? Is it happening now? Did it just happen before the virus disrupted everything that was going on? Is it happening inside of me right now? Is it happening inside of me as I'm sitting here pondering what's important in life? Maybe. Maybe.

Seth: What I got from the whole story was that each time there's a new civilization—okay, it was Persia, it was Rome, it was Greece, whatever—that this force of unity has to keep up. It has to keep up with

Lio: civilization. It has to keep up. Grow bigger then. Stay on top.

Seth: Grow bigger than, right. Because it's not enough to say, "Oh, each time a society grows, it's like, oh, those old long-nosed Jews, there's some old-fashioned thing." No, it needs to be. Get rid of all of that. That's such a tiny nothingness. It needs this force of unity. That's what this is really about. Not some ancient, you know, Shylock guy—that's like such a non-story. The real story is there's some unity between all these different people that has to exist at the same time that these civilizations are developing, and if it doesn't, then the people engaged in this force of unity end up being sucked into Hellenized, so to speak, into whichever one of these cultures it is. Spread out, dispersed, and then they fall apart.

Lio: And then something has to happen, and it is the job of the new generation each time to become a new generation of Jews—meaning a new generation of showing unity above all these things. I think that's what we're seeing right now. It's not about a new generation that's simply saying, "Out with the old, in with the new," like it's happening all over the world naturally. Rather, it's out with the old level of unity, and now we're going to usher in an even higher level of unity. The next episode is also going to be a little bit historic, but this is going to be, again, the Game of Thrones, so stick with us. It’s going to be the rise and fall of the Hasmonean kingdom. More examples. Maybe we'll—

Seth: We'll go a little quicker through it. It's the only podcast where, as we talk about history, it becomes reality in front

Voice: of our eyes.

Seth: Exactly. Or it becomes a TV series.

Lio: The Jew Function. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook at The Jew Function, YouTube at The Jew Function. Let's get involved. Let's talk about it, people.

Seth: Okay, people. Where can they join the conversation, Lio, if they want to say something?

Lio: I think Twitter. Listen, there's no excuse not to join the conversation. It can happen anywhere. It can happen on our Twitter feed, on the Facebook page if you like it. SoundCloud, if you're one of those weird guys who makes comments on audio waves, that's okay. It can happen on YouTube, under the video, anywhere you want. The important thing is to get involved, to think about it. That's what we're asking. Ask why this is happening, and hopefully, we'll find the answer together. So, Seth from New Jersey, Shalom from Israel.