מִלְחֶמֶת הַיְוָנִים הָיְתָה “לְהַשְׁכִּיחָם תּוֹרָתֶךָ וּלְהַעֲבִירָם מֵחוּקֵּי רְצוֹנֶךָ" וּכְמַאֲמָר (בראשית רבה פרשה ט"ז) כִּתְבוּ כו' שֶׁאֵין לָכֶם חֵלֶק בֵּאלֹקֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. כָּל הַמִּלְחָמָה הָיְתָה נֶגֶד אֱלֹקוּת, זאָל מעֶן לעֶרנעֶן תּוֹרָה, זאָל מעֶן מְקַיֵּים זיַין מִצְוֹת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים וְהָעֵדוֹת, רַק שֶׁלֹּא לְהַזְכִּיר שֶׁהִיא תּוֹרַת ה' וְשֶׁהַמִּצְוֹת הֵם חֻקֵּי רְצוֹנוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ, נִיט דעֶרמאָנעֶן אִין תּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת דעֶם עִנְיָן פוּן ג-טלִכְקַייט.

The campaign of the Greeks was intended “to make [the Jews] forget Your Torah and have them violate the decrees of Your will.” In the words of Bereishis Rabbah, ch. 16[:4], [the Greeks challenged the Jews to] “write… that you have no share in the G‑d of Israel.”

Their entire war was directed against G‑dliness. They would have allowed the Jews to study Torah and observe mitzvos — the mishpatim1 and the eduyos2 — so long as they did not mention that the Torah was G‑d’s and that the mitzvos were “the decrees3 of His will.” [Their objective was that the Jews] refrain from associating G‑dliness with the Torah and its mitzvos.4

To Fill In the Background

The Greeks respected the Torah for its philosophical wisdom and sage counsel. They even acknowledged the practice of mitzvos as part of the Jews’ cultural heritage. What they objected to was the concept that the Torah and its mitzvos are essentially super-rational G‑dliness and that G‑d cannot be divorced from them.

That is why the Jews’ response to the challenge of Hellenism required mesirus nefesh, dedicating themselves to G‑dliness above the bounds of reason. This demonstrated that their devotion to Torah and mitzvos did not stem from its intellectual and cultural dimensions but from its G‑dly core.

Their transcendenceof their minds and personalities evokedtranscendence Above, calling forth a miraculous victory that was not bound by the limits of nature.