The major point of the Book of Maccabees is against worship of idols. The miracle of the oil and the menorah are not even mentioned. The only thing that comes up is that the king of Syria put up an idol and demanded that people worship it and when someone went over to bow down to that idol, Matisyahu killed him, and started the rebellion against Syrian rule. [My opinion is that this prohibition of idolatry was the basic point of the herem [excommunication] that was signed by the Gra [Gaon of Vilna].]
[And I believe that herem is still valid and in force, but I do not think it applies to Rav Nahman of Breslov for reason that looking at the actual language of the herem, I noticed it did not seem applicable to him. ]
THE king of Syria, Antiochus is referred to as Greek because he was king of of of the four areas conquered by Alexander of Macedonia which after conquering Greece adopted much of Greek culture. AS a result, ''Greek wisdom'' got a negative review until Rav Saadia Gaon, ibn Pakuda, the Rambam. and the Gra. I myself would have been happy to it a learn Gemara, and ignore all ''outside learning'' until I discovered the opinion of these above mentioned sages that wrote about the importance of certain aspects of secular learning--but not all. learning. Physics and Metaphysics, in fact, the Rambam writes are included in the commandments to love and fear God. But most of what today is considered science is pseudo science [e.g., psychology], and would not be included in these commandments
