Hasmonean/Macabbean Women
Every year Jews around the world celebrate the miracle
of Chanukah. The story
of Chanukah and the Macabbean revolt is told in synagogues and in homes. Mattathias and Judah
Maccabee as well as the Maccabean army are always mentioned. Missing
from the well-known story of Chanukah, however, are the women. Texts
rarely speak of the crucial role that women played during this time
of Greek imperialism and persecution.
Rashi, however, refers to the story of a woman who
protests against the Greek army's
right to take the virginity of a Jewish bride. Rather than giving herself
to the Greek generals on her wedding night, this unnamed woman chose
to strip herself naked in front of her community. Her statement symbolized
the humiliation and shame of the Jewish brides under Greek rule. This
act inspired the Jews to take up arms in defense of their women, leading
to other revolts against the Greek empire.
Talmudic texts also refer to the story of a Hasmonean woman who refused
to bow before a Greek idol. Greek soldiers killed her seven sons one-by-one,
and still this heroic woman refused to surrender her faith in God.
After Hasmonean rule was established over the Greeks,
women continued to possess power. John
Hyrcanus, a ruler in the Hasmonean dynasty, willed control of the
entire government to his unnamed wife. Hyrcanus's son, Aristobulus,
was named High Priest, but he imprisoned his mother so as to steal her
title of ruler.
Sources: University
of Calgary; Taitz,
Emily, Sondra Henry, Cheryl Tallan. TheJPS Guide to Jewish Women.
PA: Jewish Publication Society of America,
2003. |