200 - 100 BCE

The next century, a shift in power from Ptolemaic, or the Greeks from Egypt, to Seleucid Greece, or the Greeks from Syria, saw a significant and hostile change towards Jewish worship. Until this point, no one in the ancient polytheistic world declared war on another people's religion. The modest Jewish life with laws, rituals, and values given by One G-d prescribing care and consideration for creation and one's fellow man while uplifting the oppressed, uncomfortably opposed Greek ideals.

This period not only saw a war between paganism and Judaism but sadly also a full-out civil war between Jews. It would take the better part of a century before a peaceful agreement is reached. In this picture is George Blumenthal, creator of our website, holding Sigmund Freud's bronze Hanukkiah. A Hanukkiah is a nine-branched candelabrum that is lit during the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. It represents the re-sanctification of the seven-branch Temple Menorah as it's oil burned miraculously for eight days after the Maccabean victory.