Greek Wisdom and Cognitive Dissonance

Author : Katz Michael

Abstract : In Rabbinic Literature the term Greek Wisdom (in Hebrew - Chochmat Yevanit) is code name to secular thought and scholarship, in particular, though not solely, to science and philosophy. It can be found in the Mishnah and the Talmud, the central Judaic texts composed and canonized in Jerusalem and Babylonia during the first five centuries CE, when in the lands of the Middle East science and philosophy were seen as primarily Greek. Later on this term and its meanings and implications were studied and contemplated in Judaic writings through generations, all the way up to the present. In this paper I show that Greek Wisdom’s acceptance by rabbis and traditional Jewish sages was characterized by agonizing cognitive dissonance. They recognized and appreciated it as exquisite and illustrious, while at the same time feared and resented it as foreign and powerful. I discuss their ways of trying to handle and resolve this unsettling dissonance

Keywords : Greek Wisdom, Rabbinic Literature, Jewish Philosophy, Greek Science, Talmudic Studies, Intellectual History

Conference Name : International Conference on Hebrew and Jewish Studies in Middle Eastern Contexts (ICHJSMEC - 26)

Conference Place : Birmingham, UK

Conference Date : 13th Oct 2026