Why is there a woman with a knife on these old-fashioned menorahs? #history #art #hanukkah

There's something a little different about these old-fashioned Italian and German menorahs. They feature a lone woman, triumphantly raising a knife. This is Judith, the OG Jewish bad*ss lady, who cut off the head of the general Holofernes in ancient times to save her Jewish town of Bethulia.

Today, after quickly mentioning the miraculous jar of temple oil that burned for eight days, many sources will tell you that Hanukkah is about the unlikely triumph of the Maccabees, who fought for Jewish religious freedom in the face of persecution by the Seleucid Empire who then ruled the land of Judah. But Judith was once commonly celebrated at Hanukkah time alongside the Maccabees.

So what's responsible for her disappearance? It's possible that, for many, she was lost in the overlapping shadows of modern-day misogyny, assimilation, and Zionism. Read more about her story — and her erasure — in the article by Isabella Segalovich through the link in bio.
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#Chanukah #ArtHistory

[a.ros]

This sounds a lot like the story of Yael from the Old Testament. I love that name and story, it's my eldest daughter's name.

[CK-kide]

I heard of that. But isn't her name yael?

[ErroneusEP]

Makes me think of the state flag of Virginia