Judith
"Beautiful as the flying legend of some leopard..."
-John Crowe Ransom, "Judith of Bethulia"
Hunger. Thirst. These two sensations had dominated the people of Bethulia for the longest time. The citizens of this small town, located in the foothills of the re-established country of Judea had very recently experienced pure joy. King Cyrus, the great of Persia had decreed that for the first time in seven decades, that the people of Judea could return to their homeland after seventy years of waiting. Finally, their desire to see their fathers' homeland was to become reality. But that joy of returning home to the Promised Land was soon brought to a violent end when the chief of Nabu-chad-nezzar's guards, the lecherous general Holofernes, was assigned to declare war on Judea. His troops went on a rampage through the small villages of Judea and destroyed the minimal defense they met along the way. Bethulia would be no different.
The warriors of Bethulia were ever at the ready to stop this pig army, whose very appearance was unclean and evil amongst the righteous citizens. Yet these mighty warriors were met by a force of far greater numbers and in spite of a spirited attempt at stopping the pigs of Holofernes, these great fighters were soon killed. The citizens of Bethulia knew the customs of armies at the time- they could be killed or worse yet, taken by force to Assyria, not even with the honor of dying on their homeland. But Holofernes, the gigantic boar that he was, wanted to make them suffer. He posted his pig soldiers at the gates of the city, where they kept anyone from entering or exiting- this was especially cruel as farmland surrounded the city where the Bethulians gathered their barley and wheat and could find drinkable water. What was their crime against God to die in such a way only a few years removed from their joyful return from Babylon?
All around was talk of surrender and eating meals prepared by these pigs, whose very nature was forbidden according to the Law of Moses,as the storehouses of food had long since gone empty. A travesty to break kashrut but the citizens would either starve to death or submit to these unclean invaders. But one woman decided that she would not die through hunger, one woman who would not see her beloved city inhabited by the wicked goyim whose very presence in the city was an affront to all who held faith in the Law. She did not want to see her countrymen die and Bethulia defeated by this unclean army. Her name was Judith.
Judith was a leopardess whose beauty was unmatched throughout the city. She was the wife of Manasseh, a barley-thresher whose employment was important to all who lived in the city. He was working the fields when the heat had come and overwhelmed and he died of exposure to the sun. A wealthy leopard, Manasseh had left her gold and silver, cattle and land to remain with her so that she would be provided for. Since she fasted every day to honor her late husband, hunger was not a new sensation for her and she gave liberally to the ones who needed food as the occupation and strangulation of her city continued.
At a council concerning whether or not the people of Bethulia should surrender to these invaders or die of starvation, Judith spoke up to Uzziah, the lion governor of the city.
"Within these next five days, God will defend us forever, if need be, or if he so chooses, to destroy us. God is not like us, He does not feel threatened or waver. Therefore, we shall call on Him and wait for salvation, if it should come."
For the next few days, there were prayers and mourning through the city of Bethulia. Judith and her household of put on sackcloth, poured ashes over their faces, and weeped bitterly, praying for salvation. The people of Bethulia had known through history that it mattered not the size of the army- they knew that their God was one who could bring the mighty to their doom and uplift the weak to victory. It was afetr praying that Judith, the leopard who would not go astray from her faith, would put her plan into action. Her deceit would save her people and make Judea feared throughout the world.
That night, after conferring with her servant girls and leaving them an emergency satchel filled with barley, corn, and wine Judith left the city gates wearing her finest clothes and her beautiful gold jewelry where she was spotted by the sentinels of Holofernes.
"Who are you? Where are you going?"
"I am a Judean woman named Judith who is leaving Bethulia. My home will be destroyed at your hands. And I am coming to your captain Holofernes that he might defeat not just this city but the entire country of Judea in exchange for his hand in marriage."
The pigs who were there marvelled at this Jewish leopard's beauty and wondered briefly why they were at war with a race whose women were so beautiful to look at. She was soon brought before Holofernes, that mighty wild boar who had brought the city to its knees. The camp itself could be best be described as a never-ending party- everywhere the pigs were getting drunk and eating but none of them drank as much as the captain Holofernes. This contemptible lout was told of a beautiful she-leopard who would betray her people in exchange for marriage and he could not have been happier, especially considering he had probably drunk more wine on this night than he had ever drunk in a single day since he was born.
When the sun came down, it was time for this drunken boar to finally consummate his love to his leopard bride. Judith arrived, prompting the king to get ready for a romantic evening but rather than having sex, the leopardess took Holofernes' sword from the mantle and struck him on the neck twice, killing him and severing his head from his body. In the same satchel, she had carried food to her servants, Judith stuffed the pig's disembodied head and all of the material possessions that belonged to him. Holofernes' armor belonged to her now as did the beautiful screen around the bed whose function was to keep the mosquitos out. Quietly and quickly, she went back to her hometown of Bethulia.
The next morning arrived and the soldiers came to the tent to see Holofernes, now a bloody decapitated mess. Gripped by fear, they soon realized that Judith had deceived them and without a leader, they could not hope to win. The pigs, who just a day before had Bethulia on its knees, left Judea and swore never to return. By that afternoon, whatever the pigs could not gather was swept up by the people of the city. Uzziah, the lion was ashamed for his inability to act against the invader when a woman proved to be the savior of the town.
As per Judith's request, the pig's head was put on the gate of the city as a reminder to all who sought to destroy Bethulia the fate of Holofernes, who was once a feared general in the Assyrian army.
Judith, the leopardess soon earned many marriage requests and turned down each of them, remaining true to her vow to Manasseh to never re-marry. When at last she passed away at the age of 150, she was mourned for a week by the city and buried next to her deceased husband. For all of her works, the Jews living in the city did not know the fear of invasion for the rest of her life and for many years after she passed away.