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Overview | Highlighted Judiths Judith—Part of the Hanukkah Story
Once Hanukkah festivities included the celebration of two heroes—Judah Maccabee and Judith. Although for several centuries the Rabbis included Judith in their Hanukkah narratives, her story, recorded in the Book of Judith, never made it into the canonized Bible. The Book of Judith promised that her "praise will never depart from the heart of those who remember the power of God," and she acted with a certainty that her legacy would "go down through all generations of our descendants." Neither she nor her contemporaries could have imagined a time when her story, as a story of courage in the face of enormous risks, would cease to be part of the story of the Jewish people passed from one generation to the next. And yet today, Judith's story is a little-known part of the Hanukkah narrative. Who was she? What is her significance to us today? In the second century B.C.E., as the powerful Assyrian army invades the Near East, the town of Bethulia is besieged by the cruel and domineering Holofernes, foremost general of the Assyrian emperor Nebuchadnezzar. If Bethulia yields, the whole country will fall into Assyrian hands. Discouraged, the city's elders agree to surrender the famine-stricken city if they are not rescued within a few days. Judith, a young widow and most unlikely savior, challenges them to take responsibility for the future of their community. She enters the Assyrian camp where Holofernes, smitten with her remarkable beauty, invites her to a banquet. When he retires to his bed in a drunken stupor, they are left alone in his tent. Judith takes up his sword and decapitates him. With the Assyrian army thrown into confusion, Judith inspires the Israelites to launch a surprise attack from which they emerge victorious. Judith's faith and courage changed the course of her generation's history. Modern-day Judiths continue her legacy as they dare to act, to speak, to teach, and to write themselves into the record of Jewish and American culture. Visit our Virtual Archive to learn about artist Judy Chicago, social and political activist Judith Epstein, and other Jewish women whose life accomplishments continue to shape our history. Discover the invaluable contributions of these American Jewish women: Publicize the miracle of Hanukkah by telling Judith's story, and by spreading the stories of modern Jewish women.
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