ונשים חייבות בנר חנוכה שאף הן היו באותו הנס. פי׳ שהאויבים באו לאבד הכל אנשים ונשים וטף. ויש מפרשים שעל ידי אשה אירע להם הנס הגדול ההוא ושמה יהודית כמו שמפורש בהגדה בת היתה ליוחנן כהן גדול והיתה יפת תואר מאד ואמר המלך יון שתשכב עמו והאכילתו תבשיל של גבינה כדי שיצמא וישתה לרוב וישתכר וישכב וירדם ויהי לה כן וישכב וירדם ותקח חרבו וחתכה ראשו ותביאהו לירושלם וכראות החיל כי מת גבורם וינוסו. ועל כן נהגו לעשות תבשיל של גבנה בחנוכה.
Women are obligated to light Hannukah candles, for they too were included in the miracle. This means that the enemies came to destroy everyone, men, women, and children, and there are those who say that the great miracle occurred through a woman. Her name was Judith, as the story goes, and she was the daughter of Yochanan, the high priest. She was extremely beautiful, and the Greek king wanted her to lay with him. She fed him a dish of cheese to make him thirsty, so that he would drink a great deal and became drunk, and recline and fall asleep. And it happened just that way, and once he was asleep, she took his sword and cut off his head. She brought his head to Jerusalem, and when the armies saw that their leader had been killed, they fled. For this reason, we have the custom of eating a cheese dish on Hannukah.
All:
May the month of Tevet be a month of blessings;
Blessings of goodness, blessings of joy,
Peace and kindness, Friendship and love,
creativity, strength, serenity,
fulfilling work and dignity,
satisfaction, success, and sustenance,
physical health and radiance.
May truth and justice guide our acts
And compassion temper our lives
That we may blossom as we age
And become our sweetest selves.
May it be so.
11 [f]“Your strength is not in numbers, nor does your might depend upon the powerful. You are God of the lowly, helper of those of little account, supporter of the weak, protector of those in despair, savior of those without hope.
12 “Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Master of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all you have created, hear my prayer! 13 Let my deceitful words[g] wound and bruise those who have planned dire things against your covenant, your holy temple, Mount Zion, and the house your children possess. 14 Make every nation and every tribe know clearly that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who shields the people of Israel but you alone.”
The military edge of these texts challenges the image of what we expect warriors to look like. And just like the Hanukkah story generally, the message of these texts is that it’s not always the likely candidates who save the day. Sometimes salvation comes when you least expect it from those who are least likely to deliver it. And that’s worth dancing about and also worth remembering and ritualizing for posterity.
But Judith’s contribution is not limited to her bravery. It is also a function of her piety. In the book of Judith, we find her at prayer before she shows up at Holofernes’ tent. She meditates on the ravages of war, specifically about the costs of war to innocent women. She also reflects on the nature of God’s work, which brings us to the quote above. God, with divine and infinite wisdom, understands the context of all things: why they happen and when and what the consequences of all actions are. Within this framework she makes a request: “Give into my widow’s hand the strength that I plot.” In other words, she says, “Give me the ability to carry out what I know I must do.”
The Talmud says unequivocally that we are not allowed to rely upon miracles. We have to partner with God to bring them about. We ask God for the strength to do that which seems impossible to create impossible outcomes which we look back on and label as miracles. We thank God for those miracles and we also thank the heroes who partner with God to achieve them.