In the Middle Ages Hanukkah festivities celebrated more than just the valiant deeds of the Maccabees. For several centuries there was another hero associated with Hanukkah: Judith. The Book of Judith promised that her praise would "never depart from the heart of those who remember the power of God," and that her actions would "go down through all generations of our descendants." While not historically connected to the story of the Maccabees, the Book of Judith shares the theme of Jewish faith and courage overcoming a larger force.
The Rabbis who included Judith in their Hanukkah narrative could not have imagined a time when the story of Judith's bravery in the face of enormous danger would cease to be part of the legacy of the Jewish people passed down from one generation to the next.
And, yet, like so many other Jewish women, Judith has been virtually written out of the Hanukkah narrative as we know it. Who was she? Why should we remember her?
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AMAIC: We like to remember the praiseworthy Judith because she typifies the Virgin Mary who said: "All generations shall call me blessed".
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