ABSTRACT
The arrival of Alexander the Great in the Land of Israel in 332 B.C.E. at the head of a large conquering army launched the encounter between Judaism and Hellenism. For Jews, this encounter would challenge a way of life that heretofore had been defined by the laws of the Torah as interpreted by the prophets and, since the time of Ezra, by the scribes. To be sure, Judaism and its antecedent Israelite traditions already reflected some influence of foreign cultures. Amid the varied Jewish responses to Hellenism would emerge for the first time several distinct conceptions of Judaism, each reflecting Hellenistic influence in its own way. For more than a century, these Jewish sects would vie to be the true expression of Judaism and to be sole heir of the ancient Israelite tradition. In retrospect, the destruction of the Temple would eventually render the final decision in this contest, allowing the Judaism of the Pharisees to win by default.
