Judith and Dinah: On Using Your Power

Contributed by Rabbi Callie Schulman, a member of At The Well’s “Shechinah counsel,” and spiritual teacher in Portland, Oregon.

In Kislev, we recount the lives of two different women, Dinah and Judith, both of their stories offering important lessons for women today. These two stories ask us to consider the roles women play in the societal order, how women access power, and what kind of power women are known for. These two women also open a door into understanding of how we exist in our bodies, how we prepare them for living, and how we can keep them healthy. 

On Power

The first story belongs to Dinah (Genesis 34). We read her story during Kislev in the Torah portion Vayishlach. In it, Dinah is characterized only by her relation to men. Described as the daughter of Jacob and sister to the 12 tribes of Israel, Dinah suffers a tragic trauma-- a foreign prince rapes her. We see Dinah’s power diminished again in the way her brothers treat her after. Through her violation, she became a disgrace to her family, and her brothers go to great lengths to cover up this “embarrassment.”  Though we might think we know Dinah, we never hear her voice in this story. Because the Torah makes her voiceless, Dinah’s rendered powerless.

Compare Dinah’s story to that of Judith, a woman who used her power to save the Jews. The Book of Judith is not in the Hebrew bible, but part of the cannon of apocryphal literature.  Judith lived centuries before the heros of the Chanukah story, the Maccabees, but, during the Middle Ages, was figured as a heroic female counterpart to those fighters. Her story, with its themes of resistance and audacity, has been incorporated into the Chanukah tradition by those who care to talk about women’s roles in Jewish history. 

Judith was a widow known for her purity, beauty, and intellect. One day, she heard rumor of an Assyrian siege on Jerusalem, an attempt to bring down the Jews. Judith saw inadequacies in the Jewish people’s ability to protect themselves. So, she took matters into her own hands. Judith left the security of the city walls and seduced Holofernes, the enemy army’s general, while staying “pure.” (Aka she doesn’t sleep with him.) After Holofernes passes out from drinking, she chops off his head. Judith, ever the badass, takes his head back to Jerusalem and hangs it up for all to see. Judith was on a mission. She used her strengths and followed through.  

Perhaps we can learn something about ourselves from these stories. What type of power do you have access to in your life, in your womanhood?

Dinah’s story encourages us to face some hard questions: When have we felt voiceless? Where have we been shamed in our jobs or communities? What happened after? What will we do differently, to make sure none of this happens to us, or any other woman, again? 

From Judith, we can engage questions of empowerment and self-awareness: Where does our power lie? To which passions do we channel our full power? Do we use the power of physical beauty to get what we want? What are the benefits of engaging this power? The drawbacks? How do we experience the connection between our purity, beauty, and intellect in our own lives? Answering these questions might get uncomfortable.  But these stories beg us to try. They ask us to shed light on dark issues, and get really clear: when we’ve been Dinahs? How can we be Judiths? 

On Health

In Judaism, we believe our bodies are own loan to us while on this Earth. It’s our duty to take care of our bodies, our Holy Temples. Throughout our tradition we see laws, customs, and prayers sanctifying the beauty of the human body. Truly, our bodies are places to access the Divine. Through knowing ourselves and taking care of our holy vessels, we move towards enlightenment and union with the world.

When we begin the holiday of Chanukah and recall the destruction of the Temple, we can use this story as a jumping off point to think about how our biblical mommas lived in their bodies, their “Holy Temples.” 

Dinah’s body, exactly like the Temple, was ransacked, taken advantage of by a foreigner who was not invited. This destruction caused lasting harm, and no doubt caused to Dinah develop some of her own limiting beliefs about her worth and her power.  

If Dinah, like the Maccabees, had been given the chance to re-purify and rekindle her light, how might she have brought her life back into balance? And for ourselves, how do we repair ourselves after we metaphorically crumble?  

In Judith, on the other hand, we see a woman able to attend to her body in the fullest. She purifies her body, anoints herself with oils, and dons special clothing and jewelry in preparation for her mission. Throughout history, a woman’s worth was so often reduced to how pretty an ornament she could be. But wielding her beauty as a weapon, Judith seduces the enemy general and kills him, eliminating a threat to the Jewish people, proving her beauty is anything but ornamental. 

When do you access your inner Judith? When preparing for a big presentation or an important meeting? In a moment when you’re called step up for your community? In these instances, surly you take time ready your body. Maybe you physically train, center yourself through meditation, or put on special clothes that make you feel powerful. How do you invite a spiritual energy into these preparations?

In honor of Chanukah, a holiday that asks us to bring light to dark places and to think about how we rekindle a quenched flame, what new elements of these two women’s stories can we now bring to light? How do we carry ourselves after being destroyed? How do we prepare ourselves to step into power?

Don’t shy away from these topics. This is our time to speak and step up to the light. 

Why Read Judith Now? What Does Judith Have to Do with Kislev? 

We read Judith’s story at Chanukah to exemplify great heroism on behalf of the Jewish people. But her story is connected to the other themes of Kislev too. Kislev is a month of dreams, both the dreams that come when we sleep, and the dreams we hold in our hearts. In fact, almost all of the Torah readings this month involve dreams Kislev is a time for meditating on the power of our dreams and recognizing the power of the night as a time for creativity. Nighttime can be vulnerable and scary, but it also makes possible things we can’t achieve in the daylight. Perhaps that is another reason why Judith’s story is told during Kislev.

Personal Journal Questions

Which dreams will I bring to fruition this month?

Which sources of light in my life can I draw on in dark times?

Chanukah is a time to retell heroic stories, when we’re invited to access the Judith inside of each of us. Who is my inner super hero? What would that person tell me now?

When have I experienced miracles in my life?

To which aspects of my health and healing do I want to rededicate myself?