Judith: A Hanukkah Heroine?

The Book of Judith tells of a beautiful, pious Israelite widow who saves her people by seducing and then beheading the enemy commander Holophernes, when he threatens Jerusalem and its Temple. Yet the story disappeared from Jewish tradition at an early stage and reappeared only in medieval times. What is Judith’s connection to the story of Hanukkah and how is her character transformed by midrashic tales, liturgical sources and Talmudic commentaries?