We don’t usually hear about or read a story traditionally associated with Hanukkah in which a remarkable woman is depicted as the savior of the Jewish people. It’s told in the Book of Judith, a text that has come down to us as part of the Jewish Apocrypha (“hidden books”), books that were written mostly in the Second Temple period which, like the books of Maccabees, didn’t make it into the canon of sacred books that we know as our Tanakh.
In this class, we’ll explore the Book of Judith, with its heroine who both challenges and enriches conventional depictions of women in biblical narratives. We’ll also want to engage with the book’s challenging use of sexuality and violence as part of its imagined rescue story. We’ll take some time to see how this literary masterpiece builds on older biblical stories to create new perspectives on our national story.
Judith’s dramatic rescue of her people was a favorite subject of Christian artists, especially in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. If possible, we’ll also spend a little time looking at their “visual midrash” on this story.
Please bring your own dairy/vegetarian lunch. Coffee and tea provided!
