Both the Ancient Greeks and ancient Jews obsessed over wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. But here are six issues on which the Ancient Greeks and Jews disagreed:
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Intellect brought many Ancient Greek philosophers to realize that there is a supreme G‑d, which is Intellect.
Experience brought the Jews to realize that there is only one G‑d, and He is beyond everything, including intellect.
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Intellect illuminates the good and the bad, life and death.
The Jewish G‑d tells us "choose life."
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Aristotle understood that G‑d could not be concerned with us puny beings.
The Jew feels G‑d's concern for the cry of every small creature, finds His breath in every leaf of a tree and feels His goodness in every drop of rain.
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Aristotle understood that time and space have always been and everything is the way it is because it must be that way.
Jews know that nothing must be and anything is possible, because in the beginning G‑d created heaven and earth.
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To the Greeks, beautiful ideas were an end in themselves.
To the Jews, beautiful ideas are a means toward a beautiful life as our Creator meant us to live.
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Ancient Greeks believed that the Jews would assimilate into their culture.
Today, 2,157 years later, the Jews are celebrating Chanukah.
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