How did some Jews react to harsh Greek rule?

Answer 1

Some assimilated (the Hellenizing Jews), while others continued to keep the Torah.

Through their assimilationist actions, the Hellenizers publicly demonstrated their desire to mingle into Greek society permanently. In addition, many people are unaware that the Syrian-Greeks were not the ones who initiated the outlawing of Torah-observances, in the period leading up to the founding of Hanukkah. Rather, it was the Hellenizers, who actively petitioned the Syrian-Greeks to create and enforce the anti-religious decrees. The Greeks, for their part, on more than one occasion wondered out loud why they had gotten so entangled in the internal life of the Jews (since simple governance and taxation had until then been the limit of their involvement). Like the later Sadducees and Essenes, the Hellenized Jews eventually either repented or went lost. The Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) under Antiochus Epiphanes (2nd century BCE), at the instigation of the Hellenizers, forbade various Torah-practices in Judea, such as Sabbath-observance and circumcision, rededicated the Temple to a Greek idol, and pressed the Jews to offer up idolatrous sacrifices. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Hasmoneans (a family of religious Jews) fought to retake the Holy Temple, which had been seized by the Seleucids, and to enable the people to continue to observe the Torah. The Hasmoneans (also called Maccabees) were miraculously victorious. When they reached the Temple grounds, they immediately reconsecrated it to God.

Answer 2

It depends entirely on the time period in question.

During the Ancient Greek Period, such as under Alexander the great and the Seleucid Empire, Jews were relatively integrated into Greek society and there was a strong force of Hellenization that was applied to the Jewish community. This created, by and large, a Hellenized Jewish Community that was a foil to the more traditional Jewish Community who would eventually rise up in the Hasmonean Revolt, whose Jewish victory is celebrated as part of Hanukkah.

The next period when the Greek people asserted themselves over Jews was the period of the Byzantine Empire and the subsequent Despotates of Greece (following Turkish conquest of Anatolia). This was a period of Greek Orthodox Christianity, which was incredibly repressive towards the Jewish population. There were a number of edicts that restricted Jewish rights and freedoms in these states. As the Byzantine Empire became weaker, Jews took active roles in supporting the enemies of the Byzantines because anyone would be better than the Byzantines. It is for this reason the Jews joined with the Sassanids in the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars and assisted the Arabs during the Islamic Conquests in the Middle East and North Africa. As the Byzantine Empire and the Despotates constricted further, the repression became more acute and they came to prefer the Dhimmi Status afforded by the Ottoman Empire.

The most recent period is with the independence of the Kingdom of Greece and the modern Republics of Greece and Cyprus. The modern Greek revolutions were a war with strong religious overtures where Orthodox Christian Greeks were overthrowing Sunni Muslim Ottomans. As a result, in the initial stages of the war, Jews felt more inclined to defend the Ottomans, fearing repression under the new Greek state. However, the rights granted to Jews in the new Greek State were just short of full emancipation, leading to many Jews in Greece to identify with the Greek State and fight in defense of the new country. In the latter part of the 19th century, Greece did emancipate its Jews, which made the Jews of Thessaloniki, the largest Jewish community in Greece, willing to stay with the change of government. Although there were some concerted efforts by Greeks to protect their Jewish population, over 80% of Greek Jews were murdered by the Nazis. The ethnic Greek Jews, the Romaniotes, barely made it through at all. Since World War II, Greece has been relatively tolerant to its small Jewish community, giving it the same minority protections that are expected of a first-world country. However, Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism are rising in Greece, making Jews increasingly afraid to manifest symbols of Judaism in public (even though they are legally permitted). In Cyprus, the Jewish community is so small, that there really are no issues.

Answer 3

Jewish people adapt to life under greek rule because Alexander allowed the Jews to stay in Judah. However, Alexander introduced the Greek language and ways to judah