Q&A: Greek Thought and Postmodernism
Greek Thought and Postmodernism
Question
Hello Rabbi, how are you?
During Hanukkah I tried a bit to reflect on the essence of the Greeks, and I have a difficulty. On the one hand, they were not heretics; they “only wanted” to separate the sacred from the secular, but they did not deny the sacred. In fact, they also had
a mythology and belief in idols. On the other hand, I once read that there is some midrash saying that the leaders of Rome seated the sages of Greece in their cathedras, and they were the brains behind Roman rule. (By the way—if that is true,
then why is the exile of Edom supposed to be essentially different from the exile of Greece?) In addition, if I understood you correctly, then it would seem that postmodernism today, which is perhaps the strongest expression of the exile of Edom in our time, is the fruit
of a 2,300-year process of Greek philosophy, which is the basis of everything. That is, the whole goal is total heresy and the negation of the spirit. Do you agree with these claims, and if so, how do you reconcile them?
Answer
Hello G.,
My thanks, I am well, thank God. Hope the same is true for you.
I am attaching my article on Hanukkah, where this is explained. The sages of Greece did not sit in Rome (by the time it was an empire there were hardly any Greek sages left), but there was an influence of Greek philosophy, and especially Greek mythology, on Rome.
My claim in Two Carts is that the Greek revolt, which advanced rationalism (that everything needs proof), reached its culmination in postmodernity. But that does not mean that postmodernity is identical to Greek thought. The basic logical principle is expressed there. One must be careful about simplistic generalizations when connecting cultures and ideas.
Discussion on Answer
Historically, it is known that Alexander the Great’s goal was to spread Greek culture, not simply to kill everyone. I am not sure that the Sages’ view that they fought against the sacred is historically authentic. They fought against all cultures that did not accept them.
Even after reading the article on Hanukkah, I still do not understand what the Greeks really wanted. Why didn’t they simply want to destroy us, plain and simple?
Why was it so important to secularize the sacred and take the risk that they might not succeed, and also, what was the depth of their thinking—did they understand that there is something sacred and want to fight it,
or did they think it was a mistake that had to be refuted?