What is the story? I am sharing two versions of the story, the first comes from the book of Judith the second is the medieval version faithfully told on the Chabad website. what is the difference between the two stories? Why is it important to share this story every year?
It is not clearly known when the story which we are about to tell actually took place. The story first appeared in a very ancient book named after the heroine, Yehudit (Judith), and it was written in Hebrew. However, the original text was lost, and only a Greek translation remained, and not a very accurate one at that.
The story was retold in different versions.
First version:
The Book of Judith opens with a conflict between God and Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar is trying to gain sovereignty over the western world. His commander and chief of the Assyrian army is Holofernes (this is one of our historical anomalies, as Nebuchadnezzar was Babylonian and not Assyrian – yet we stick with the story). Holofernes leads a massive force in a punitive campaign against the Assyrian western vassals, including Israel.
Israel is attempting to block the advancement of the Assyrians against all the nations of the west (wow! Talk about parallels) at the town of Bethulia (another one of our historical anomalies, as Bethulia isn’t mentioned anywhere else in biblical literature, and yet the name means 'virgin'). The town of Bethulia guards the route to Jerusalem.
Despite the warning of Achior the Ammonite that the Jews cannot be conquered unless they sin against God, Holofernes lays siege to Bethulia, cutting off its water supply. After 34 days, the exhausted town is ready to surrender. The leader of the town, Uzziah, urges compromise; he asks the town to give God five days to save them. Uzziah’s hope is to temporarily delay the inevitable surrender of the town and the route to Jerusalem.
In Part two of the Book, we meet Judith. A pious widow in Bethulia, she comes forward to challenge the five-day compromise, which she says is imposing an ultimatum on God. She sends her maid to call the town magistrates to her house, calling them out for putting an ultimatum on God. She says that God is testing them; they do not get to test God. God, she says, has the power to help them at any time.
Uzziah responds that she is right, but that people are thirsty, and the best, he says, Judith can do is pray for rain. Judith feels there is more she can do aside from prayer; yet first, she prays. She then dresses beautifully; she takes a basket filled with kosher food, and she and her maid leave the besieged town at night for the enemy camp. Judith meets the Assyrian patrol and tells them that she is a Jew who is defecting and will share a 'true report' of what is going on behind the town's walls. The soldier is so impressed by her that he chooses one hundred men from the ranks to escort Judith and her maid to Holofernes.
Judith bows before Holofernes and offers the following plan: she will go out each evening to pray to God, and God will tell her when the townspeople have sinned. In this weakened state of sinning against God, it will be the perfect opportunity to attack the Bethulians. Four uneventful days later, Holofernes invites Judith to a banquet in his tent. All leave the banquet save Judith and Holofernes, and he is passed out drunk. She uses his own sword to cut off his head. The maid puts the head in the food basket, and they leave the camp as they had been practicing on the previous evenings. Yet on this evening, they head back to Bethulia.
Judith displays the head and tells the people to attack the Assyrian camp at daybreak. The Bethulians win, and the route to Jerusalem is secure.
Second version: The town of Bethulia, in the land of Judea, came under siege by Holofernes, a mighty Syrian-Greek general, at the head of a huge army. Holofernes was notorious for his cruelty in suppressing rebellions. When he captured a rebel stronghold, he showed no mercy to the men, women and children sheltered there. Now he was determined to crush the rebellion of the town of Bethulia, whose inhabitants refused to recognize the oppressive rule of the Syrians.
The men of the beleaguered town fought bravely and desperately to repulse the repeated assaults by the superior enemy forces. Seeing that he couldn’t take the fortified town by force, Holofernes decided to starve the inhabitants into submission. He cut off the food and water supply, and before long the town was indeed brought to the verge of surrender.
Hungry and thirsty, and in utter despair, the townspeople gathered in the marketplace and demanded that, rather than die of hunger and thirst, they should surrender to the enemy.
Uzziah, the commander of the defense forces, and the elders of the town tried to calm the populace without success. Finally they pleaded, “Give us five more days. If no salvation comes by the end of five days, we will surrender. Just five more days . . .”
Reluctantly the people agreed, and slowly they dispersed. Only one person, a woman, remained in her place, as if riveted to it, and she addressed Uzziah and the elders, who had also turned to go. Her voice was clear and firm.
“Why do you test G‑d, giving Him only five days in which to send us His help? If you truly have faith in G‑d, you must never give up your trust in Him. Besides, don’t you know that surrender to Holofernes is worse than death?!”
So spoke Yehudit. She was a young widow. It was several years since she had lost her beloved husband, Menashe, and she had devoted all her time to prayer and acts of charity ever since.
Yehudit was blessed with extraordinary charm, grace and beauty, but she was particularly respected and admired for her devoutness, modesty and loving kindness. Yehudit’s words made a deep impression on Uzziah and the elders.
“You are quite right, daughter,” they admitted, “but what can we do? Only a downpour of rain that would fill our empty cisterns could save our people, but it is not the rainy season. We are all suffering the pangs of hunger and thirst. Pray for us, Yehudit, and maybe G‑d will accept your prayers . . .”
“We must all continue to pray, and never despair of G‑d’s help,” Yehudit said. “But I have also thought of a plan. I ask your permission to leave town together with my maid. I want to go to Holofernes . . .”
Uzziah and the elders were shocked and dismayed. “Do you know what you are saying, Yehudit? Would you sacrifice your life and honor on the slim chance that you might soften Holofernes’s heart? We cannot allow you to make such a sacrifice for us.”
But Yehudit persisted. “It has happened before that G‑d sent His salvation through a woman. Yael, the wife of Heber, was her name, as you well know. It was into her hands that G‑d delivered the cruel Sisera . . .”
Uzziah and the elders attempted to discourage Yehudit from such a dangerous mission, but she insisted that she be allowed to try. Finally, they agreed.
Yehudit passed through the gates of Bethulia, dressed in her best clothes, which she had not worn since her husband passed away. A delicate veil all but hid her beautiful face. She was accompanied by her faithful maid, who carried on her head a basket filled with rolls, cheese and several bottles of old wine.
The sun had already begun to hide behind the green mountains when Yehudit and her maid wound their way toward the enemy’s camp, their lips whispering a prayer to G‑d. Presently they were stopped by sentries, who demanded to know who they were and who sent them.
“We have an important message for your commander, the brave Holofernes,” Yehudit said. “Take us to him at once.”
“Who are you, and why are you here?” Holofernes asked, his eyes feasting on his unexpected, charming visitor.
“I am but a plain widow from Bethulia. Yehudit is my name. I came to tell you how to capture the town, in the hope that you will deal mercifully with its inhabitants . . .”
Yehudit then told Holofernes that life in the beleaguered town had become unbearable for her, and that she had bribed the watchmen to let her and her maid out. She went on to say that she had heard of Holofernes’s bravery and mighty deeds in battle, and wished to make his acquaintance. Finally, she told Holofernes what he already knew, that the situation in the besieged town was desperate, that the inhabitants have very little food and water left. Yet, she said, their faith in G‑d remained strong, and so long as they had faith, they would not surrender. On the other hand, she added, before long, every scrap of kosher food would be gone, and in desperation they would begin to eat the flesh of unclean animals, and then G‑d’s anger would be turned against them, and the town would fall . . .
“But how will I know when the defenders of the citadel will begin to eat unkosher food, as you say, so that I can then storm the walls and capture the city?” the commander of the besieging army asked.
“I had thought of that,” Yehudit answered confidently. “I have arranged with the watchmen at the city’s gates that I would come to the gate every evening to exchange information: I will tell them what’s doing here, and they will tell me what’s doing there.”
Holofernes was completely captivated by the charming young Jewish widow who had so unexpectedly entered his life and was now offering him the key to the city. “If you are telling me the truth, and will indeed help me capture the city, you will be my wife!” Holofernes promised. Then he gave orders that Yehudit and her maid were to have complete freedom to walk through the camp, and anyone attempting to molest them in any way would be put to death immediately. A comfortable tent was prepared for the two women, next to his.
The two women, veiled and wrapped in their shawls, could now be seen walking leisurely through the armed camp at any time during the day and evening. Fearful of the commander’s strict orders, everyone gave them a wide berth. Soon, they attracted little if any attention. Yehudit could now walk up to the city’s gates after dark, where she was met by a watchman.
“Tell Uzziah that, thank G‑d, everything is shaping up according to plan. With G‑d’s help, we shall prevail over our enemy. Keep your trust strong in G‑d; do not lose hope for a moment!” Having delivered this message for the commander of the defense force of the city, Yehudit departed as quietly as she had appeared.
The following evening she came again to the city’s gate and repeated the same message, adding that she had won Holofernes’s complete confidence.
In the meantime, Holofernes, having nothing special to do, spent most of his time drinking, with and without his aides. When he was not completely drunk, he would send for Yehudit. She always came to his tent in the company of her maid. On the third day, he was already getting impatient.
“Well, gracious Yehudit, what intelligence do you bring me today? My men are getting impatient and demoralized doing nothing; they cannot wait to capture the city and have their fun . . .”
“I have very good news, general. There is not a scrap of kosher food left in the city now. In a day or two, famine will drive them to eat their cats and dogs and mules. Then G‑d will deliver them into your hands!”
“Wonderful, wonderful! This surely calls for a celebration. Tonight we’ll have a party, just you and I. I shall expect you as my honored guest.”
“Thank you, sir,” Yehudit said.
That evening, when Yehudit entered Holofernes’s tent, the table was laden with various delicacies. The general was delighted to welcome her, and bade her partake of the feast. But Yehudit told him she had brought her own food and wine that she had prepared especially for that occasion.
(“My goat cheese is famous in all of Bethulia,” Yehudit said. “I’m sure you’ll like it, General.” He did. And he also liked the strong, undiluted wine she had brought. She fed him the cheese, chunk after chunk, and he washed it down with wine. Before long he was sprawled on the ground, dead drunk.)
Yehudit propped a pillow under his head and rolled him over on his face. Then she uttered a silent prayer. “Answer me, O L‑rd, as You answered Yael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, when you delivered the wicked general Sisera into her hands. Strengthen me this once, that I may bring Your deliverance to my people whom this cruel man vowed to destroy, and let the nations know that You have not forsaken us . . .”
Now Yehudit unsheathed Holofernes’s heavy sword, and taking aim at his neck, she brought the sword down on it with all her might. For a moment she sat down to compose herself. Then she wrapped up the general’s head in rags, concealed it under her shawl, and calmly walked out and into her own tent.
“Come quickly,” she said to her maid, “but let’s not arouse suspicion.”
The two veiled women walked leisurely, as usual, until they reached the gates of the city.
“Take me to Uzziah at once,” she said to the sentry.
Uzziah could not believe his eyes as he stared at the gruesome prize Yehudit had brought him. “There is no time to lose,” she told the commander. “Prepare your men for a surprise attack at dawn. The enemy’s camp is not prepared for it. When they run to their commander’s tent, they will find his headless body, and they will flee for their lives . . .”
This is precisely what happened.
The enemy fled in confusion and terror, leaving much booty behind. It was a wonderful victory, and it was the G‑d-fearing and brave daughter of Yochanan the high priest, the father of the Hasmonean family, that saved the city of Bethulia and all its inhabitants.
(From Chabad.org)
(ט) ותיגש אל העמוד אשר בראש המיטה ותיקח את חרב הלופרנש מעליו:
(י) ותשלח את ידה ותיקחהו בציצית ראשו ותאמר ה' אלוקים חזקני נא ואמצני אך הפעם:
(יא) ותך בחוזקה פעמים על צווארו ותכרות את ראשו ותגל נבלתו מעל המיטה ותיקח היריעה מעל העמוד ותצא:
(9) Then she went to the pillar of the bed, which was at Holofernes' head, and took down his broadsword from there.
(10) And she approached his bed, and took hold of the hair of his head, and said, "Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day."
(11) And she twice struck his neck with all her might, and she took his head away from him. And she tumbled his body down from the bed, and pulled down the canopy from the pillars; and, soon after, she went out
אשה ודאי מדליקה דא"ר יהושע בן לוי נשים חייבות בנר חנוכה שאף הן היו באותו הנס:
However, a woman certainly may light, as Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Women are obligated in lighting the Hanukkah light, as they too were included in that miracle of being saved from the decree of persecution.
Women are obligated to light Hanukkah 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 Hanukkah.
כָּל שֶׁחַיָּב בִּקְרִיאַת הַמְּגִלָּה חַיָּב בְּהַדְלָקַת נֵר חֲנֻכָּה...
Whoever is obligated to read the Megillah is also obligated to kindle the Chanukah lamp.
(I.e., all adult men and women; similarly, there is an obligation upon parents to train their children in the observance of this mitzvah. Although Chanukah is a mitzvah that is dependent on a specific time, women are obligated, because "they were also included in the miracle." As mentioned in Halachah 1, the Greeks' decrees affected them and they also had a share in the military victory, for the Greek commander was slain by a woman, Yehudit.)
(ג) בחנוכה ופורים אומרים כאן ועל הנסים: עַל הַנִּסִּים וְעַל הַפֻּרְקָן וְעַל הַגְּבוּרות וְעַל הַתְּשׁוּעות וְעַל הַמִּלְחָמות שֶׁעָשיתָ לַאֲבותֵינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בִּזְּמַן הַזֶּה:
(ד) לחנוכה: בִּימֵי מַתִּתְיָהוּ בֶּן יוחָנָן כּהֵן גָּדול חַשְׁמונַאִי וּבָנָיו. כְּשֶׁעָמְדָה מַלְכוּת יָוָן הָרְשָׁעָה עַל עַמְּךָ יִשרָאֵל לְהַשְׁכִּיחָם תּורָתֶךָ וּלְהַעֲבִירָם מֵחֻקֵּי רְצונֶךָ: וְאַתָּה בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ הָרַבִּים עָמַדְתָּ לָהֶם בְּעֵת צָרָתָם. רַבְתָּ אֶת רִיבָם. דַנְתָּ אֶת דִּינָם. נָקַמְתָּ אֶת נִקְמָתָם. מָסַרְתָּ גִבּורִים בְּיַד חַלָּשִׁים. וְרַבִּים בְּיַד מְעַטִּים. וּטְמֵאִים בְּיַד טְהורִים. וּרְשָׁעִים בְּיַד צַדִּיקִים. וְזֵדִים בְּיַד עוסְקֵי תורָתֶךָ. וּלְךָ עָשיתָ שֵׁם גָּדול וְקָדושׁ בְּעולָמֶךָ. וּלְעַמְּךָ יִשרָאֵל עָשיתָ תְּשׁוּעָה גְדולָה וּפֻרְקָן כְּהַיּום הַזֶּה: וְאַחַר כֵּן בָּאוּ בָנֶיךָ לִדְבִיר בֵּיתֶךָ. וּפִנּוּ אֶת הֵיכָלֶךָ. וְטִהֲרוּ אֶת מִקְדָּשֶׁךָ. וְהִדְלִיקוּ נֵרות בְּחַצְרות קָדְשֶׁךָ. וְקָבְעוּ שְׁמונַת יְמֵי חֲנֻכָּה אֵלּוּ. לְהודות וּלְהַלֵּל לְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדול:
(3) (During the season of Hanukkah add: And we praise You for the miracles and for the redemption and for the mighty deeds and for the victories and for the battles that You performed for our fathers in those days at this time:
(4) In the days of Mattisyahu, the son of Yochanan the High Priest, the Hasmonean, and his sons, when the wicked kingdom of Greece rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and to stray from the laws of Your will, You, with great mercy stood by them in the time of their distress. You fought their fight, judged their cause and avenged them with vengence. You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous and the arrogant into the hands of those engaged with Your Torah. For Yourself you made a great and holy name in Your world, You performed a great deliverance for Your people Israel on this day. After these things, Your children entered into the Holy of Holies of Your House, cleansed Your Temple, purified the place of Your Holiness, kindled lights in Your holy courts and established these eight days of Hanukkah to express thanksgiving and praise to Your great name.)
The Hidden Story of Chanukah - by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l - excerpts
On 20th October 2012
In the book of Maccabees that was not included in Tanach, we read of the story of the military victory, but there's one little piece that's missing. What piece do you think is missing?
In neither Maccabees 1 or Maccabees 2, no reference to it at all. Says that the Greeks defiled all the stuff in the Temple and so they re-purified all the keilim, all the appurtenances of the Temple, among which was the Menorah. And they re-lit the Menorah and they established an eight day festival with Hallel, but no mention of the miracle of the oil.
The only story told in the book of Maccabees 1 and 2 is the story of the military victory over the Greeks. And that is, of course, the incredible story. What is incredible about it?
Number one, it was a defeat by a handful of Jews of the greatest empire of the time. Antiochus IV did a number of things which were absolutely unacceptable to Jews. Erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple, had people offer korbanot (sacrifices) to pagan gods, and various other things, and banned the practice of Judaism in public, among which Brit Milah on pain of death and they rose and rebelled. The fact that handful of dedicated Jews could beat the greatest empire of the ancient world was in itself an extraordinary event.
Secondly, Chanukah is the only festival in Jewish history - until we come to modern festivals - (like Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim) - believe it or not, it is the only festival you can read about in non-Jewish sources.
All the ancient historians wrote about Chanukah. Why? Because it was an event that changed the history of the world. It was the beginning of the end of Greece and the beginning of the beginning of Rome. So it was an event not only of significance to Jews, but of significance to the world. And everyone knew it at the time. So that is the story as recorded in the book of books of Maccabees.
However, oddly enough, the books of Maccabees were not included in Tanach, and the question is, Why?
We find the second story of Chanukah in Megillat Ta’anit, the Scroll of Fasting, it's actually a scroll of ‘not fasting’:
"And this is what it says, "shekeshenichnesu yevonim lahaychil" – When the Greeks entered the Temple, "timu kol hashmanim shebahaychal" - they defiled all the oils in the Temple. And when the Hasmoneans prevailed over the Greeks and defeated them, they searched and they could only find one cruse of oil which had the seal of the High Priest unbroken. And there was only enough oil to last for one day. And there was a miracle and they lit the Menorah for eight days. And the next year they fixed eight days on which to have a festival with Hallel and special prayers.” See source 10.
The Sages turned this whole incredible, world-changing military victory into a minor detail, and the major story is the oil that lasted for eight days. And the question is, what happened between these two stories?
- The first thing that happened was, when the Maccabees won, they became Kings of Israel.
- They became rather Hellenised themselves.
- The Hasmonean Kings did a very mischievous thing. The first Hasmonean King, Jonathan, made himself King and High Priest at the same time.
How long did the military victory last? Their independence only lasted less than a century. the Sages said: The most important thing about Chanukah is the spiritual thing, not the military and political thing. And something that had been a minor detail of the early story suddenly took on its great significance.
In the year 70 the Temple fell and some Rabbis decided to abolish Chanukah. Why did they celebrate Chanukah? Because they rededicated the Temple. Are you supposed to celebrate the rededication of the Temple when you have no Temple?
In the town of Lud, some Rabbi decided to ordain a public fast on Chanukah, which meant that the official Rabbinate of Lud was abolishing Chanukah. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua got very upset about this. And Rabbi Eliezer went for a swim in the public swimming pool, in public baths, and Rabbi Yehoshua had a haircut. Why? Because there are two things you don't do on a fast: you don't swim in a swimming pool and you don't have a haircut.
In the end, Chanukah was saved. But go figure, why was Chanukah saved? How was Chanukah saved? The answer is that Chanukah was only saved because in the course of a century and a half, the Jewish people had decided that that first story (military) was not the primary one. The second story (the oil) was the real one.
The Rabbis looking back over history said the real battle was not the military one. It was the cultural one. And we can see now how right they were because the military victory lasted 100 years, but the spiritual victory has lasted more than 2000 years. "The building, the Temple, may have gone, but the hope hasn't gone. We still have the hope."
There is one little halachah, one little item of Jewish law. It's the last paragraph in Maimonides’ code of laws of Chanukah, and it is a law I want you never to forget, even though you'll never have to use it. If, on Friday afternoon of Shabbos Chanukah, you only have one candle...what do you light is as, a Chanukah candle or a Shabbos candle? Why? Because the Shabbos light represents peace in the home. Because the whole Torah was only given to make peace in the world. [See Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Chapter 4]
Here is the greatest military victory our people ever had until modern times. And yet when faced with a choice, which takes priority? One little bit of peace or the greatest victory of them all? One little bit of peace takes priority over the greatest victory of them all.
Friends, we are the people who only fight when we need to, to defend our lives and our country. But our deepest hope is for peace. May Hashem send shalom al Yisrael bimheira b’yameinu.
With the story of Judith, the obligation of women to participate in the mitzvah of Hanukkah candle lighting and Rabbi Sacks' description of why we highlight the miracle of the oil over the military victory can you hypothesise why the story of Judith remerged during the Middle Ages, and why we fascinated by it until this day?