Hellenized Jews

I was taught early on that Alexander the Great wanted to spread Greek culture to everybody, and that as a result Greek language and Greek amphitheaters and Greek sports spread all over the Middle East. I learned later that some Greeks had colonized Italy, so that explained Greek influence there.

That's one of the perks of being the conqueror, I guess. Except that the conquered lands were split among warring dynasties, so it isn't quite so easy to see how Greek-ism would be easy to push on the conquered peoples--if you annoy them too much they might defect to the other guys. In your own heartland strongholds, sure, but in the middle of it all? (Antiochus IV was a nutcase.)

So what was so enticing that there would be a significant body of Hellenized Jews?

The previous post may explain some of the enticement. This wasn't an empty "wear the robes of the rulers" fashion trend. The Hellenist culture was high-tech too. The tech was maybe not affordable for everybody, but there were real secrets to be learned, with practical uses as in agriculture and medicine that could help everybody. Some of the rest of Greek culture would come along for the ride, so to speak, and for the Jews that could be problematic: idolatry and immorality.

There are some seriously problematic aspects to modern Western culture too, and some of them seem to spread along with the more technical goodies. That may give a parallel with the past.

Sheer, unmitigated speculation by an amateur. Maybe no secret to the pros.