The Banning of Mitzvot

In their need to rid the world of Judaism, they singled out three mitzvot (commandments): The sanctification of the new month, the Sabbath, and circumcision. Here’s why:

ROSH HASHANA/THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE NEW MONTH – The Jewish people follow a lunar calendar and the very first commandment to the Jewish people in the Torah is: “This month shall be yours as the first of months.” This commandment instructs Jews to sanctify the beginning of each new month, when the moon first reappears in the sky. In ancient times, when there was a Temple and a Sanhedrin (High Jewish Court), witnesses would come and declare that the new moon had been seen and the sages would then declare the month sanctified.

What then could be the problem with setting a calendar? When the Jews sanctified the new moon, it, in effect, stated to the world that G-d is in control of time. The month was not declared based on the counting of days, but rather based on the appearance of the new moon, according to G-d’s commandment of how the months should be calculated. Since the Greeks wished to show that humankind was in control of nature, they felt threatened by the Jewish concept of Divinely ordained time. Also, by denying the Jews the ability to sanctify the new month, they inhibited the proper celebration of the Jewish holidays, which are based on dates which start with the declaration of the start of each new month.

THE SABBATH – “Six days shall you work and do all your labor, but the seventh day is Shabbat for the Lord your G-d. On it, you shall do no [creative] work.” The seventh day is the Jewish Sabbath on which a Jew does no work. Why did the Greeks have a problem with a day of rest? The Hellenistic culture was a center of great creativity. From ancient Greek traditions, the Western world has inherited a remarkable legacy of literature, sculpture, philosophy, and architecture. Through their marvelous creations, the Greeks proclaimed their might over the world. Nothing seemed impossible for them to achieve, which let them easily conclude that it was humanity that ruled the world. The idea of taking one day to let G-d run the world negated the Greek belief in their own control. It also forced them to acknowledge how lightly they treated their own deities, while the Jews were willing to set aside an entire day to their one deity

CIRCUMCISION – Remember, the Greeks idealized the beauty of the physical form, particularly the male body, as can be seen in so many of their sculptures. The idea that the Jews would willing mar the body was outrageous to them (of course, leaving a baby to die from exposure wasn’t a problem). On a deeper level, however, circumcision represents humanity’s ability to have control over one’s physical self. The Greeks believed in fulfilling all of their passions, in contrast to Judaism’s devotion to self discipline. While Judaism teaches humankind to strive to be like G-d, the Greeks created gods who acted with less dignity than many humans. Remember, it was Greek mythology that created nymphs and satyrs, philandering gods and promiscuous goddesses. They abhorred circumcision because it focused on the fact that a person is capable of channeling his/her passions.