ABSTRACT
The curriculum favoured in Jewish academies of learning has been influenced in most periods of Jewish history by the intellectual concerns of surrounding cultures. The most striking aspect of Jewish references to the prevalence of Greek culture among Jews is their rarity. Most evidence for explicit awareness by Jews of Hellenism as a cultural phenomenon which might affect Jews was written in the Hasmonaean period and specifically with reference to the events of the Maccabaean revolt from 175 to 164 B.C.E. The Maccabees had initially no need to adopt the image of Judaism as at odds with Hellenism, since their original aim was simply to purify the Temple and restore the cult. References from the time of the Second Temple to the influence of Greek culture on Jews are rare outside this context of the revolt of the Maccabees, but a few can be found.
