The Song of the Muscles Chapter XNUMX - Gymnasium in Jerusalem, isn't it?! (Part a')

In this chapter, as well as in the upcoming chapters, we will discuss an instructive and interesting affair, unprecedented in the history of the Jewish people, that is, the establishment of sports facilities in Jerusalem.

We have already discussed and touched upon in the previous two chapters the middle and non-middle meeting between the Jews and the Greek and Hellenistic physical culture, considering a significant change towards physical activity compared to the biblical period. And in the following chapters we will deepen and expand the canvas in this regard.

The Hellenistic rule in Judea, the one that began at the beginning of the fourth century BC, and split into Egyptian-Hellenistic/Ptolemaic (Ptolemaic) control until 200 BC and Syrian-Hellenistic/Seleucid control, from then on, left its mark on the population of Judea, mainly through the Hellenistic cities , the polis cities that were established at that time, 31 cities in number. It is about a gradual, continuous and creeping process of what is called Greekization, or Hellenization. This process had several characteristics that almost completely reflected every population that was ruled by the Hellenistic empires. The characteristics were these - a geographical characteristic - we are talking about an urban population; Socio-economic characteristic - we are talking about the affluent strata of the population; Social characteristic - these are groups that have any connections with the Hellenistic society; An external-essential characteristic - we are talking about external Greekization in general, i.e. the one that manifested itself through the influence of external characteristics such as language, the adoption of Greek names, the influence of Greek customs and ways of life, and the like. Phenomena of conversion or partial adoption of Greek worship were quite rare.

The flourishing period of Hellenism in Jerusalem is closely related to the activity of the Tobiah family. This family, which in the court of the Syrian-Hellenistic king Seleucus IV (175-178 BC) played the role of tax collectors on behalf of the government, had great influence and tremendous political and economic power, and was at the head of the Greek faction in Jerusalem. One of his sons, Hyrcanus, lived in the past of the Jordan and built him a magnificent palace in the Hellenistic style, when, according to Josephus' description, magnificent swimming pools were built there.

The Hellenization process was fueled quite a bit by quasi-political struggles between groups of the leadership strata in Jerusalem, especially that which belonged to the high priesthood. Famous were the tensions between the group that supported the presence of the Ptolemaic rule and the one that favored the rule of the Seleucid rule. These were therefore internal power struggles that accelerated, and not precisely for its own sake, the process of Hellenization in Judea.

During the internal leadership struggles in Judea through the star of Jesus, the brother of his disciples, the high priest. Jesus, who changed his name to Lison in accordance with the spirit of the Hellenistic period, sought to secure for himself the office of the high priesthood, under his brother who still serves on the throne of the high priesthood, and therefore, on his own initiative, turned to the Syrian-Seleucid king, who had Judea under his rule, was he Antiochus IV, "Epiphanes ” (164-175 BC), in the first year of his reign. His move was considered a revolutionary, unprecedented move, which called for the involvement of the Syrian king in what was going on in the Jerusalem leadership, when, Yeson, he wanted to promote several goals: one personal and the other essential under the title of Hellenistic reform in Judah.

This parasha found expression in external literature in three interesting passages as follows: "In those days, the sons of Belial came out from among Israel and dismissed many saying: We will go and make a covenant with the heathen who are around us, because from this day we have separated from their people and found us many evils. And it's better in their eyes. And people from the people volunteered and went to the king (Antiochus IV) ... and built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to the laws of the Gentiles, and made them a foreskin..." (15 Maccabees 11:XNUMX-XNUMX).

The current testimony is general and brief. Let us therefore look at the composition of Maccabees 17 to shed more light on the episode: "But after the death of Seleucus (the fourth), and Antiochus (the fourth) known as "Epiphanes" received the kingship, which Jason, the brother of Chonia, to the high priesthood, by making him king, For his good-bye with him, three hundred and sixty kira of silver, and from other income - eighty kira (of silver). And for these he promised in writing another hundred and fifty (a silver square) if he were given the license to establish a Gymnasium and an Ephebion by his own power and to register the people of Jerusalem to the people of Antioch. And when the king agreed, and he received the power of the government, he hastened (Yeson) to incline his people to the Hellenic ways... and renewed customs that were not according to the Torah. Because he happily built a gymnasium under the citadel, and he brought the most famous of the boys under the cover ("patasos") as he walked before them. Hellenism reached such a height, and the standards of the foreigners broke through the sin of Jason, not a high priest, until the priests ceased to be zealous for the work of the altar, and desecrating the temple and abandoning the sacrifices, they would rush to the palestra to take part in training (games?) that are against the law (the Torah ?) according to the discus reading. And the honor of ancestors was considered zero for them, and the Hellenic honors were the most beautiful to them, and because of this great trouble came upon them. And those whose qualities they envied and whom they wanted to be like in everything, became their enemies and tormentors. Because it is not an easy thing to transgress the laws of God, and the future will show this" (7 Maccabees XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX).

The next testimony, the third in number, is taken from the book of Maccabim 21 - "And he (Yeson) incited the people to all sin, until he not only built a gymnasium in the citadel of the city of our forefathers, but also violated the worship of the temple. As a result of the actions, even the divine side was outraged, and Antiochus himself went to war (against the Jews following the events of the rebellion)" (Maccabim 19:XNUMX-XNUMX).

In front of the above three testimonies stands the following testimony of Joseph ben Mattathias: "And when Jason pressed Menelaus and the sons of Tobiah, they fled to Antiochus and told him that they wanted to leave the laws of their ancestors and the way of life according to these laws and follow the king's laws and maintain the Hellenic way of life . They requested, therefore, that they be given permission to build a gymnasium in Jerusalem. And when Antiochus gave them his permission, they would keep their word (that they would look like Hellenes even when they were naked, and they abandoned all the customs of their ancestors and imitated the actions of other Gentiles" (Kadamonyot HaYudawid 241, 240-XNUMX).

The essential material hidden in the above evidence is numerous and significant and naturally we cannot develop it within the limits of the discussed list, therefore we will divide the sheet of material into several "parts" of lists as follows:

The gymnasium is established

According to the book of Maccabim XNUMX, it is about an anonymous, undefined group, and in his words: "And men of the people will volunteer...". According to Maccabees XNUMX and Maccabees XNUMX it was Jason, the high priest who founded the gymnasium and the ephebion. However, a study of Josephus Ben Mattathias reveals that it was Menelaus and the sons of Tovia who fled to Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid king, and asked for permission to establish a gymnasium in Jerusalem.

Before we try to untangle the tangle, let us spread the historical canvas a bit. The flourishing period of Hellenism in Jerusalem was closely related, as mentioned above, to the activity of the Tobiah family. These asked, for political and economic reasons, to depose Jason and elevate Menelaus to the high priesthood (a kind of monarchy) under him. And who was Menelaus? It was the brother of Shimon, the governor of the temple, who belonged to a respected priestly family called Bilga, a family known for its Greek tendencies and which supported the return of the Egyptian, Ptolemaic rule to Judea, contrary to Jason's political position. In other words, leading external and internal political foundations were combined here that motivated the Tobiah people to bring about a revolution in Jerusalem.

Menelaus won the forced inheritance of the high priesthood under the Syrian bayonets, and he was right to pocket Antiochus IV a huge sum that exceeded the offer of his predecessor-rival by 300 pieces of silver. Menelaus was much more extreme than Jason when it came to the Greek tendencies and between him and Jason and his supporters significant conflicts arose, which led to the outbreak of fratricidal war in Jerusalem (between the two aforementioned factions). Josephus emphasizes that Menelaus and his faction fled to Antiochus during those riots, and through them the request to establish a gymnasium in Jerusalem.

Well, was it Jason, or was it Menelaus, who founded the gymnasium in Jerusalem?

We will offer three possibilities here, which we will examine one after the other: a) Joseph son of Matthias was wrong in replacing Jason with Menelaus; b) Menelaus asked to build another gymnasium; C) Jason was given permission to build a gymnasium, but Hela did not finish building it and Menelaus insisted on continuing the factory.

A) This possibility may be based on the assumption that in the days of Josephus, at the end of the first century CE, the idea that the builder of the gymnasium was none other than Menelaus, who represented the Greek faction among the Jerusalem aristocracy, took root among the Jews, unlike Jason who held more moderate Greek views. On the other hand, Josephus does not serve as a particularly faithful reference and a source that stands on its own authority as far as the Hellenistic period is concerned. He did not know the book of XNUMX Maccabees and relied solely on XNUMX Maccabees. Sometimes he was inclined to convert Jason into his servants and his servants into Menelaus. However, from here the mention of the name of Menelaus as the builder of the gymnasium should not be conclusively dismissed, since the book of Maccabees XNUMX clearly says that it is a certain group, i.e. "people from the people", as being responsible for the establishment of the gymnasium and the value of the book of Maccabees XNUMX as a historical source is not in doubt .

b) The second option is rejected and does not stand the test of reality, since none of the sources alludes to two gymnasiums built during this period.

c) The third possibility is rejected, apparently, since in the books of the Maccabees it is stated in the commentary "that with joy he built (Jason) Jimenson", and that trainings and/or competitions were held there. However, one question still haunts the deceased: why don't the sources mention that running training and competitions were also held at the gymnasium in question? One of the sources attests to wrestling, and vaguely also to throwing a discus, and although it is known that in the Hellenistic period, like the classical Hellenic period, wrestling was one of the pillars of the gymnasium, but the branch of running still remains considered one of the first branches, and the original (Maccabim XNUMX, which is actually an abbreviation of a broad historical composition to be composed in Greek), who was a Hellenistic Jew with a Greek education, who was well versed in the Hellenistic world and the Greek polis, should, without a doubt, have known this. If so, why isn't the run or the running tracks ("Dromoy") mentioned?

This can be justified on the assumption that every reader was aware of life in the Greek-Hellenistic gymnasium and the motives for establishing the gymnasium, but it seems that another hypothesis can be made, although it is not without difficulties: the construction of the gymnasium was no small matter. Its establishment lasted several years, and the duration of time between the reign of Jason and the reign of Menelaus was only about three years. Therefore, it is possible that Jason first built the "playstra", that is, the large structure in the middle of which was the wrestling arena, and it contained rooms for storing the gymnastic aids and the pin, when later on in the construction plan he intended to build the "xistos" or the "paradromos" - a track Running, because it is unthinkable to establish a gymnasium and a pub without running tracks. Well, this plan had not yet been put into effect, and this situation allowed Menelaus to turn to the Seleucid king in Syria and ask for permission to build (complete) the construction of the gymnasium, and we can even find an allusion to this from what is said in the book of Maccabim 24: At the end of three years, Jason, my brother Shimon, sent ... to bring the money to the king and finish by remembering necessary things. And he (Menelaus) standing before the king and honoring him in front of the government assumed the great priesthood for himself, by adding three hundred shekels of silver to the allowance of Yason" (Maccabiim 23:XNUMX-XNUMX).

The time of the establishment of the gymnasium

If we reject the possibility that it was Menelaus who built the gymnasium or completed its construction, then it can be determined that Jason built it around 174/175 BC. And if we accept the possibility that Menelaus completed its construction, then it is between the years 170/175 BC.

It is possible to stick to the date 175 BC from the following data: It is known that in central cities throughout the Hellenistic world, agonistic sacred games were held (in imitation of the classical Olympic games) once every four years. In the city of Tyre, competitive sacred games were held dedicated to the Tyrian god Melkeret (he is the "twin" god to Heracles, who was one of the mythological patrons of the gymnasium), and the connection between Jason and those games (as we will open in one of the following chapters) is known regarding the year 175 BC. In view of this, it is possible that the establishment of the Jerusalem gymnasium was very close to the aforementioned date. However, as mentioned, it is possible that the completion of this, with its facilities and spaces, took place in the days of Menelaus.

In the next chapter, it will be noted, we will discuss the location of the aforementioned gymnasium and its ownership/"price".