Seeds Of Exile, Part 1

The Confrontation Between the Maccabees and the Hellenists

Question: What was the ideological conflict between the Maccabees and the Hellenistic Jews?

Answer: The opposition was that the Maccabees were in favor of uniting the people under one common principle so that all were like brothers who felt the inner unity of each other.

And the Hellenists were for proclaiming each person free, independent, not worshipping the one God, i.e., the one force, nature, and, accordingly, the one uniting principle. Each person chose from a large host of gods to worship, as in ancient times when people worshiped trees, stones, celestial forces, stars, etc.

As a result, there was a huge difference between them in their ideology, behavior, and attitude toward each other. In principle, the Hellenists existed each by himself. Their state was held only by bayonets, despite the fact that later they were guided by reasonable methods borrowed from the Jews after the conquest of Israel.
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From KabTV’s “Systematic Analysis of the Development of the People of Israel” 7/8/19