After the athletes have walked away with the gold; the
financiers, the green; the losers, the black and the blue; the
Olympics 2000 have all but been forgotten. For many, even
amongst those who view sports as being crassly commercialized,
this international sporting event has become a venerable icon
surpassed only by the likes of Coca Cola and several animated
Disney characters.
For Jews, the Olympics carry special significance, since they
were originally founded by the Greeks; the very same people who
brought us the story of Chanukah and the victory of the
Maccabees. Then, the Olympians were on the opposing team.
However, the story goes back even further than that.
The Midrash says that the rise of Yovon as the dominant
world power in 337 B.C.E. was due to the meritorious act of
their progenitor, Yefes, son of Noach (Eliyahu Rabbah
20). After Noach and his family left the ark, Noach's son,
Cham, obscenely disgraced his father when finding him in a
state of drunkenness. Noach's other two sons, Shem and Yefes,
sensitively covered the nakedness of their father, thus
restoring his dignity.
For this act of nobility, Noach gave eternal blessings to his
two righteous sons. Shem, who initiated the good deed, was
blessed that his seed would be the bearers of spirituality on
earth. This blessing was fulfilled with the birth of Avrohom, a
descendant of Shem and forefather of the Jewish people.
Yefes was blessed with aesthetic beauty, which became
actualized by his descendant, Yovon, the father of the Greek
Empire. Greece was the first civilization of mankind which was
committed to the advancement of art, architecture, literature,
drama and philosophy. Its contributions carried over into the
Roman Empire and are felt until our time.
But Noach's vision for the role of Yefes was not that of a
typical of the patron of arts. Far from seeing the value of
"art for art's sake," he felt that there should be a symbiotic
relationship between Yefes and his more spiritual brother,
Shem. Shem was the essence; he had the message of spiritual
supremacy to teach mankind. However the ordinary folk were
incapable of appreciating the message as delivered by Shem.
Noach's blessing to Yefes was that his beauty and artistic
flair, "should be found in the tents of Shem" (Bereishis
9:27). In the true marriage between form and function, Yefes,
the artist, was enjoined to beautify the truths of Shem (Rabbi
S. R. Hirsch).
This ideal was realized in the historic meeting between the
legendary Greek ruler Alexander the Great, and the Jewish sage
Shimon Hatzaddik. When Alexander saw Shimon Hatzaddik, he
alighted from his chariot and bowed down before him. When
Alexander's advisers asked why a great king like himself bowed
down before this Jew, he replied, "An apparition, the likes of
this man, appears before me on all my battlefields, and
predicts victory for me before each battle. Blessed is the G-d
of Shimon Hatzaddik" (Yoma 69a, Vayikra Rabbah
13:5.4). Through that gesture, the mighty world ruler
acknowledged ultimate superiority to the spiritual heirs of
mankind.
The Jewish sages held the positive aspects of Greek culture in
mutual respect. Appreciating the expressive beauty of the Greek
language, the sages made an exception and permitted the Torah
to be written in Greek (Megilla 9b). The Rambam
(Tefillin 1:196), however, writes that while the
halocho follows this opinion, Greek may no longer be
used for Torah, because the classic Greek that the sages
permitted had become corrupted over time.
Unfortunately, the ideal symbiotic relationship between the
Jews and Greeks was short-lived. In Midrashic literature, each
world power in history corresponds to a specific animal sharing
the unique characteristics of that nation. The animal
corresponding to the Greek empire is the rabbit (Tanchuma,
Vayikra 87). The rabbit is one of those rare animals with
just one of the two required characteristics of kosher animals:
it chews its cud. Thus, the organs associated with its mouth
have the potential for holiness, as was actualized through
Alexander's humble homage to the G-d of Israel.
Ironically, Yovon's ultimate perfection is linked to the
awareness of her deficiency: the rabbit's feet lack split
hooves. The beautiful poetry of Homer and the noble
philosophies of Aristotle were all mental exercises. This is
similar to the rabbit, whose most conspicuous feature is its
long ears, exaggerating the head to much larger-than-life
proportions. But those lofty ideals were divorced from their
legs, the limb which controls action. The rabbit's short and
stubby un-split paws demonstrate that something is not kosher
about it. Both Yovon and the rabbit have an unusually big head
for unusually small feet.
This dichotomy between Yovon's noble mind and spirit on the one
hand and lack of physical control on the other is best
illustrated by the following vignette. Aristotle was renowned
for his brilliant ethical lectures extolling the virtues of a
moral life. Once he was discovered in a place of ill repute and
was asked by the incredulous spectators for an explanation of
his behavior, which was against all he preached. Aristotle
appeared unfazed. He stated simply, "In the house of study, I
am Aristotle. Here, I am not Aristotle."
At this point, Yovon may counter in righteous indignation:
"What right do you have to denigrate us for our moral lapses?
You admit that we were created with limited faculties for self
control. So how can you expect any more from us? This is just
the way we are."
To fully answer this question and to understand the intended
Divine plan for the Greek dynasty, again we have to return to
our humble rabbit. In Sefer Mishlei, King Solomon
describes four small, weak creatures and how they wisely
compensate for their natural handicaps in order to survive. One
of those creatures is the rabbit.
"Rabbits, though not a mighty tribe, make their home in the
rocks" (Mishlei 30:24-26). The rabbit may lack the
natural strength of other animals, but they still attain the
same level of security by choosing to dwell in a protected
environment. Similarly, the perfection of Yovon is achieved
when following Noach's directive, "May Hashem extend Yefes, and
may he dwell in the tents of Shem" (Bereishis 10:2).
This requires Yefes' awareness of his own moral deficiency, but
even more importantly, the humility to submit to the nation
that lives by spiritual ideals, the descendants of Shem: the
Jews.
There is another interesting thing about rabbits. Gentle, cute
and innocent looking, the rabbit family has a definite place in
the world scheme. Like other animals in the ecosystem, they
contribute productively to the furtherance of life on the
planet. But this is contingent upon the fact that the rabbit is
in its proper place and climate. If brought to another country
where its population can multiply unchecked, the innocent
rabbit is transformed into a powerful monstrosity. The
situation becomes an intolerable "hare-raising experience."
Like unfettered rabbits unleashed on Australian soil, the
Hellenistic Greeks quickly forget their proper place. Forsaking
the protective constraints of the tent of Shem, they sought to
develop their culture in an unrestricted manner. Instead of
harnessing art to the furtherance of G-dly ideals, they used
their gifts of beauty to glorify the physical. Instead of
romanticizing spirituality, Hellenism glorified the wonder,
attraction, passion, beauty and accomplishments of the human
body.
"Like a golden ring in the snout of a pig, so is a beautiful
woman whose good sense has departed" (Mishlei 11:22).
When observing something beautiful, one often feels a deep
stirring in one's soul. On a deep level, this basic human
emotion is derived from the yearning of the soul, which is
purely perfect, longing to connect with things similar to
itself. Physical perfection intimates to a deeper, truer
perfection: the spiritual dimension. As an expensive gold ring
befits the human hand, we expect the external beauty of a woman
to reflect similar inner qualities. When the two don't match
there is profound disappointment: a magnificent container
promises delights but then has nothing to offer.
The Greeks' glorification of physical prowess quickly led to an
overblown sense of power. No longer the small, timid rabbit it
once was, Greek advancement of culture was combined with
unspeakable barbarism and bloodshed. This more violent aspect
of Greek behavior is alluded to by another Midrash which
compares the Greeks not to a gentle rabbit, but to the powerful
hammerhead (Bereishis Rabbah 44 ll). After successfully
imposing Hellenistic culture upon all lands under their rule,
the Greeks then turned towards the ideological nemesis that
opposed all they stood for: the Torah of the Jews.
The Chanukah miracle was a result of a small band of loyal Jews
who stood up against the Syrian army to uphold the honor of
Hashem: the Chashmonaim. Unlike the mythical depictions of
Maccabees as musclemen, our account of their exploits tells us,
"You [Hashem], delivered the strong into the hands of the weak,
and the wanton into the hands of the diligent students of Your
Torah" (Chanukah prayer). Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt"l,
observed that a more realistic description of the Maccabees
would be a group of lanky, undernourished yeshiva students!
In a similar vein, the Chofetz Chaim -- a couple of millennia
after the Chanukah events -- expressed regret that he hadn't
gathered the yeshiva students of his time to wage war against
the anti-religious Communist regime! He said that certainly
some would die in the course of the battle. But he was
confident that had they demonstrated self-sacrifice they, too,
would ultimately have been victorious, as were the
Chashmonaim.
Hashem granted miraculous victory to this small army of G-d.
The Midrash draws several striking parallels between the Greeks
and the Chashmonaim. The Chashmonaim were from the tribe of
Levi, who was the third son of Ya'acov; the Greeks, the third
world empire. Both have three letters in their Hebrew name,
both wore distinct garments and both blew instruments: the
Levites blew trumpets during the Temple service; the Greeks,
trumpets of war. But there was one stark difference between the
two: the Greeks possessed a powerful large army; the
Chashmonaim, a small weak one. And the large army fell in the
hands of the small army (Bereishis Rabbah 99:213).
The yearly celebration of the Chanukah miracle proclaims that
in the eternal conflict between the physical and spiritual,
impure vs. pure and brute force vs. righteousness, the ultimate
victor is the spirit. In the Al Hanisim Chanukah prayer
it says, " . . . And for the victories and for the battles
which You performed for our forefathers in those days, at this
time." This means that the battle between the Greeks and the
Maccabees is very much alive today. Western civilization's
obsession with glorifying the physical exploits of the human
body in the arts, sports and war are the living legacy of Greek
culture. And as the spiritual heirs of the Maccabees, our role
is to oppose those vapid ideals.
The recent Olympic games bring out this point. While
superficially appearing as an innocent pastime, they do not
stand up to deeper scrutiny. In an international competition,
one would imagine wreaths of honor would be awarded to the
country which aids its poor, sick and elderly the most, or
possesses the lowest crime rate. But instead of such worthy
ideals, the Olympics demonstrate their perception that the
epitome of human development is represented by the country
which can produce an individual who can run momentarily faster
than a fox or dingo. If the runners were emergency medical team
personnel, at least, we could appreciate their swiftness in
rushing to the aid of a hurt accident victim. If weight lifters
would patrol crime-ridden areas to protect the innocent and the
weak that, too, would be admirable. But if after the events the
athletes do nothing more useful than wave their arms in
victory, drink a few bottles of Gatorade, and land fat
contracts to promote consumer goods, something stinks about the
whole affair.
But all this is not surprising in light of the fact that the
Olympics is rooted in ancient Greece. The Greeks worshipped the
human body and nothing more important to them existed outside
of it.
But there is an even darker side of the Greek value system.
Narcissistic idolization of the body leads to egocentricity
and, finally, to violent behavior. The ancient Greeks
represented the epitome of culture and philosophy, but at the
same time were unspeakably cruel and barbaric. Athens and
Sparta were both military societies constantly at war:
plundering, capturing slaves, and holding scant regard for
human life. Even to their own people they exhibited cruelty, as
demonstrated by the ancient Spartan custom of abandoning weak
and deformed infants to die in the woods.
This dichotomy in which terrible cruelty can coexist with art
and beauty has a modern day parallel especially relevant to
Jews. There is an ugly reality lurking behind the glitzy facade
of the modern Olympics. In 1936, well after Hitler began his
vicious persecution of the Jews, the International Olympic
Committee had no problem allowing the Olympics to take place in
Nazi Germany. Nor did any country boycott the Olympics because
of Germany's brutal treatment of the Jews.
Thirty-six years later, in 1972 Munich, the Olympics again
displayed its darker side. Oblivious to the dignity of human
life, the Munich games continued even while PLO terrorists
massacred two Israelis and held the remaining Israel Olympic
team hostage at gunpoint within sight of the area. There is
television footage of athletes sunning themselves in the
Olympic village while a short distance away a terrorist with a
machine gun pokes his head out of a window where the Israelis
were held hostage. Not only were the games not cancelled but
none of the Olympic teams from other nations had the decency to
leave Munich along with the survivors of the Israeli
contingent.
Ironically, the Olympics preside with a cloak of nobility. This
is due in great part to the solemn opening ceremony that has
spiritual, if not religious, overtones. With pomp and splendor,
a flaming torch is borne over vast distances and finally
ignited upon an altar-like edifice. This spectacle is the
actualization of Noach's blessing to Yefes, granting him the
ability to produce moving symbolism triggering strong emotions
in the eyes of the spectators. But while fire and light are
true metaphors of spiritual concepts, the torch relay is just
another example of Yovon's ability to dress even the emptiest
activities in a respectable wrapping.
The Midrash relates that when the archangel of Esau fought with
Ya'acov, the angel struck his finger in the ground and the
ground shot out a flame in order to scare him. Yaakov told him,
"With your little spark you wish to scare me? I'm all fire"
(Bereishis Rabbah, 72:2).
The Chanukah lights proclaim a similar message. The modern-day
Greeks of the world use flames and lights to sublimate their
worthless causes and to convince themselves that they are the
rightful bearers of light in this world. But in the eyes of the
Jews, those flames are no more than artificial sparks. We
possess the true light and the real fire. And that spiritual
light is symbolized by the lights of the menorah which
we light each night of Chanukah.
Rabbi Yisroel Greenwald, a member of the Kollel Beth
Hatalmud in Melbourne, Australia is author of Reb Mendel
(Artscroll), a biographical appreciation of Rabbi Mendel Kaplan
zt"l. This article first appeared in "Moadim Uzmanim," a
publication of Kollel Beth Hatalmud.
