The reception of the Book of Judith in medieval Judaism is an interesting matter as it is excluded from the Jewish canon. Indeed, between the earliest surviving version of the Book of Judith, dating from the second century BCE and written in Greek, and the tenth century, discussions surrounding the eponymous heroine were limited to Christian circles. This omission is likely due to the tale’s non-canonical status in Judaism, in contrast to its deuterocanonical inclusion in Christian scripture.1 The oldest surviving version is from the Greek Septuagint; the Book of Judith was translated by Jerome into Latin in the fourth century CE, becoming part of the crucial Latin Vulgate.2 Thus, Judith became a focal point for patristic and medieval Christian authors, portraying her as an exemplary Christian woman.3 Conversely, there was a notable absence of discourse about the Judith narrative within Jewish tradition, with no mention until approximately the tenth century CE.4 As the first millennium turned, the story of Judith suddenly resurfaced in Jewish literature.5 Medieval Jewish authors not only (re)translated6 it into Hebrew,7 but engaged in a comprehensive rewriting of the narrative. Although still excluded from the Jewish canon, the story seems to gain new importance and interest within specific literary Jewish circles. This resulted in thirteen known pre-modern Jewish versions of the Judith stories, spanning from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries. Intriguingly, the majority of these versions share a distinctive plot device absent in earlier renditions: Judith is transformed into a menstruant, her menstrual cycle becoming the pivotal tool for securing victory over Holofernes.
During the latter half of the Middle Ages, the practices surrounding niddah8 transcended the confines of patriarchal control over the female Jewish body. In medieval Jewish devotional literature, including biblical commentaries, apologetic texts, and the emergence of Kabbalah,9 the figure of the niddah evolved into a symbol embodying the ideals of contemporary Jewish culture and practices. These depictions aimed to religiously appropriate or distinguish female bodies, portraying meticulous adherence to regulations and traditions as a means for women to forge a closer communion with their community and establish a covenant with God. This adherence signified both sacred and societal worth, asserting superiority over the Christian counterpart; the niddah became a representation of everything the Christian woman was not. Thus, the niddah functioned as a tool for Judaism to underscore its distinctive values, perspectives, and culture. Indeed, Ilana Cohen’s study on developing a critical menstrual studies approach stated that menstrual practices “contribute to better understanding the ways a religious community defines and (re)produces itself.”10 Specifically in medieval biblical commentaries, there was a consistent emphasis on adhering to halakhah and mitzvot related to niddah, including practices such as mikvah immersion and abstaining from sexual intercourse during the days of bleeding. The menstrual cycle was not viewed as inherently negative but rather as an opportunity for Jewish women to manifest their faith and unwavering commitment to Jewish regulations.11 This chapter will examine the medieval Jewish reception of the Book of Judith, with a special focus on the Megillat Yehudit, as these texts transformed the eponymous heroine into a niddah. Jewish midrashim (re)appropriate the heroine to illustrate Jewish tradition. These texts depict Judith strategically using her menstrual cycle as a triumphant tool for the Jewish people against non-Jewish adversaries. I argue that the niddah practices and traditions provided the midrashic authors with a means to re-appropriate their text and heroine from Christianity, firmly anchoring Judith as the “Jewess.” From the tenth-century onwards, the story of Judith as niddah is received and transmitted for Jews to differentiate themselves from Christians, but also to strengthen their own identity and self-perception.
Receiving Niddah in the Middle Ages
The Book of Judith revolves around a courageous Jewish widow named Judith, who lives in the city of Bethulia whilst it is under siege by the Assyrian army led by Holofernes. Facing defeat and starvation, the people of Bethulia decide to surrender if no help arrives within five days. Judith, inspired by her faith in God, devises a plan to save her city and her people. She dresses in her finest attire and goes to the Assyrian camp, where her beauty captivates Holofernes. Over time, she gains his trust, and her plan is set into motion. On the third night, she is allowed to leave the confines of the camp to wash and pray by a spring of water.
And sent this message to Holofernes, “Let my lord now give orders to allow your servant to go out and pray.” So Holofernes commanded his guards not to hinder her. She remained in the camp three days. She went out each night to the valley of Bethulia and bathed at the spring in the camp. After bathing, she prayed the Lord God of Israel to direct her way for the triumph of his people. Then she returned purified and stayed in the tent until she ate her food toward evening. (Judith 12: 6–9, NRSVue)
By the fourth night, Holofernes invites her to a feast, in which he becomes intoxicated in her company. Judith seizes this opportunity and beheads him. She then returns to Bethulia with his head, inspiring the Israelites to launch a surprise attack on the Assyrian army, leading to a Jewish victory.
The thirteen known examples of pre-modern Jewish interpretations of the Judith narrative were compiled in André-Marie Dubarle’s 1966 work, Judith: Formes et Sens des Diverses Traditions.12 These narratives exhibit a remarkable consistency despite being copied across diverse regions (for example, Tunisia, Persia, Provence, Italy, Carcasonnne, and Catalonia) and historical periods (from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries), establishing a cohesive representation of menstruation. Deborah Levine Gera categorises these midrashim into five main groups: Vulgate-based versions, Hanukkah-Judith renditions, combinations of Vulgate and Hanukkah versions, unrelated Hanukkah Judith tales, and liturgical poems for Hanukkah.13 Variations include commonly relocating the setting from Bethulia to Jerusalem, merging Nebuchadnezzar and Holofernes into a single character beheaded by Judith, and fluctuating aspects of Judith’s character, such as her virginity, widowhood, and familial ties to prophets, which differ across narratives. Among these, ten midrashim undergo a transformative process, recasting Judith as a niddah, and thus, her menstrual cycle emerges as the decisive instrument for securing victory for her people. Seven of the ten explicitly use the term “ndh,”14 with the remaining three, midrash n.8 (or the Megillat Yehudit), the midrash n.10 (Ioser of Hanoukah), and midrash n.12 using varying terms describing (flows of) impurity. This interpretation holds particular significance as Judaism had neglected this narrative in preceding centuries.
Megillat Yehudit
The Megillat Yehudit15 elaborates, in particularly rich detail, on the role of Judith’s adherence to niddah traditions and in defining Jewish identity in late medieval Jewish writing. By portraying the heroine in such a positive light, the author showcases the elevation of importance of the menstruant that is found within certain circles of medieval Judaism. The Megillat Yehudit is the longest of the ten midrashim that Dubarle collected, and is found in a single manuscript copied by Moses Shmeil Dascola in 1402.16 Neubauer describes the script as “Provencal rabbinic,”17 giving us some clue to the otherwise unknown scribe. However, the original author and date of composition is unknown, but ultimately it is thought to have been originally composed before this manuscript. This particular midrash illustrates the medieval Jewish reception of the Book of Judith, and how and why the transmission of this non-canonical narrative found its place within a Jewish literary tradition.
Oxford, Bodleian Library Ms. Neubauer n. 2746, heb e. 10, fol 66v (“Megillat Yehudit”).
Judith’s Menstrual State
Receiving the niddah regulations from more ancient Jewish prescriptions allows the authors of the Judith corpus to anchor her into a Jewish framework through her menstrual status and her purification rituals. However, unlike the other six midrashim that explicitly use the term “niddah,” the Megillat Yehudit instead opts for a more ambiguous phrase to explain the reason behind her purification. As with the other menstruant-midrashim, Judith arrives at Holofernes’ camp, who is seduced by her beauty and demands that she sleep with him, to which Judith responds:
אך בליל אטהר מזובי וארחץ בנקיון כפי עד הערו תנח ידיך: ויאמר כדברך אחותי אך אל תאכרי אותי הלילה רחצי הזכי
But tonight I shall cleanse myself from my discharge and I shall wash my hands in innocence. Until tonight, withhold your hand. Then he said: “As you say my sister. But do not approach me tonight, wash and be pure.”18
The phrase parallels two acts of purification: Judith “cleans[ing]” her body and then “wash[ing]” her hands. This puts emphasis not only on the act, but also on the terminology and phrasing used, as we shall see below. Within Leviticus the term
Judith’s execution of menstrual purification in these midrashim defines her identity as a Jewish woman. The performance of the niddah commandments belong to the three mitzvot that are reserved for Jewish women. Performing these mitzvoth—lighting the candles, breaking the bread, and niddah—enable the female Jew to access a higher sacrality. They allow her to illustrate her faith and inclusion in her community, strengthening her self-perception. Elisheva Baumgarten concludes succinctly that “over time, within the broad context of religious praxis, these three commandments became elevated as paradigmatic observances of Jewish women, especially in the writing of men.”21 This specific menstrual state of Jewish women is of extreme importance to Judaism, providing the woman space not only to perform religious rituals, and giving her an identity within her community, but also to differentiate her from Christians. Judith, here, is set apart from Holofernes and her non-Jewish adversaries by prioritising her religious rituals.
Indeed, Judith sets herself even further apart by drawing a firm physical and religious line between her and the non-Jewish soldiers. After having stated to Holofernes her need for purification due to her—menstrual—flow, Judith explains that:
גם אם־יראו אותנו בעיינות ובנחלים אל־יגעו בנו ודברנה דבר
Even if the soldiers see us [Judith and her serving woman] in the springs and streams, let them not touch us or talk.22
Thus Judith’s emphasis on the “springs and streams,” alongside her desire to “cleanse” herself imply that she is immersing herself in some kind of natural mikvah, as mikvot have to be sources of running, natural water. Judith clarifies that Holofernes must wait “
The other midrashim, written prior to the Megillah, follow similar menstrual narratives. Midrash n.1, as identified by Dubarle, originates from a Persian manuscript dating back to the tenth or eleventh century, housing over three hundred Talmudic tales.25 This manuscript presents the earliest known version of a menstruating Judith, potentially serving as the foundational narrative for subsequent tales. Departing from the original Book of Judith, where the eponymous heroine is a widow from Bethulia, this midrash revolves around a beautiful “young girl” or “maiden” (
אבל בשעה זו אי אפשר. שאני בנדותי. ולילה זו טבילתי
But at this hour, it is impossible, as I am in my impurity. And tonight, it is my purification.26
Whereas the Megillah simply refers to Judith’s “flow,” the midrash n.1 opts for a more explicit term, with Judith stating “
Following this, midrash n. 2, traced to Nissim ben Jacob in Tunisia during the late tenth-to-eleventh centuries, features Judith as an anonymous young girl.28 She willingly presents herself to the unnamed king as one of “your maidservants”29 (
אבל אודיעך אדוני המלך שאנכי נדה ובערב אנכי ראויה לטבילה
But I will have you know, my Lord, that I am impure and tonight I will be ready to bathe.30
Subsequent midrashim follow this same narrative, where, after infiltrating the enemy’s camp and encountering a lustful Holofernes, Judith invokes menstrual impurity and emphasises the imminent need for purification. Each version shares, on the whole, a common structure, presenting the menstrual justification and concluding with Judith’s commitment to bathing in the evening. Seven of the ten explicitly use the term niddah,31 with the remaining three, midrash n.8 (Megillat Yehudit), the midrash n.10 (Ioser of Hanoukah), and midrash n.12 using varying terms describing (flows of) impurity. These narratives exhibit a remarkable consistency across diverse regions, historical periods, and communities of origin, establishing a cohesive representation of menstruation.
Judith’s Sexual (Un)Availability
However, Judith’s desire to properly follow the niddah commandments, to purify and only after this being able resume having sexual intercourse, becomes a risk as she is rejecting the sexual advances of Holofernes. This risk emphasises the worth that the author of the Megillah puts upon the correct performance of mitzvot. The Megillat Yehudit presents throughout the entire narrative non-Jewish men who desire Jewish women: the king from the beginning of the narrative “desires” (
אי נא שכבי עמי אחותי כי גדולה אהבה אשר אהבתיך אהבת תענוגים
Come now, lie with me, my sister, for it is a great love that I have for you, a love full of delights.33
The identical phrase is found in Samuel II 13:11, uttered by Amnon to his sister, Tamar. Tamar rejects him, claiming that it is vile and shameful, but she is ignored, and results in her rape. The inclusion of this reference is a kind of narrative threat, suggesting a potential violation of not only Judith’s body, but also of her adherence to the Jewish niddah commandments. By borrowing Amnon’s phrase, the author strongly associates Holofernes with a biblical sexual predator and criminal, one who is unwilling to consider either religious or moral laws.
Holofernes’ threat is not simply of sexual violence but also threatening to break Jewish commandments. Jewish law forbids physical relations—any kind of physical touch, let alone intercourse—with a woman who is niddah. Sexual intercourse with a woman who is niddah incurs karet for the couple (
may plan for word of her baths to reach and excite him … He would be even more interested if he knew or deduced that Judith’s baths were not merely for cleanliness, but might serve to purify her and put her in a state where she would be receptive to sexual intercourse.37
Tamber-Rosenau’s observation is also helpful for understanding the Megillah. Indeed, Judith’s bathing can be understood to have two aims: to purify herself from her menstrual impurity, and to sexually arouse Holofernes in order to lure him into a position of vulnerability. Tamber-Roseneau points out that the narrative of a woman bathing and attracting male (sexual) attention is not reserved to Judith, but extends also to Bathseba and Susannah.38 The narrative of menstrual separation and repressed sexual desire does indeed end in a climax, though not a sexual one as Holofernes desired, but rather a strategic climax for a Jewish victory.
The Association Between Menstruation and Leadership
The authority and leadership that Judith’s menstrual bleeding bestows on her in the Megillat Yehudit echoes that of another famous biblical female leader who also associates her power to menstruation: Esther. the heroine of the Megillat Esther, one of the five megillot in the Hebrew Bible.39 She is a Jewish woman who marries the non-Jewish king of Persia, Ahasuerus, while concealing her religious identity. After Esther uncovers a plot by Haman, the king’s advisor, to annihilate the Jews, however, she uses her influence as queen to thwart him. She reveals her Jewish identity to her husband and persuades him to spare her people. Following this Jewish victory, Esther becomes a celebrated Jewish heroine, and the festival of Purim is established to remember the story. More importantly, the Septuagint version of the narrative compares Esther’s crown to a menstrual cloth. Judith may not be portrayed in the Megillat Yehudit as the military leader that she is in the Greek Septuagint or the Latin Vulgate, she instead attains an even higher form of power, similarly to that of Esther. The Megillah concludes the narrative with Judith ascending to new heights:
ותהי יהודית מולכת על־הארץ ושפטה את־ישראל
then Judith became queen over the land and judged Israel40
This is foreshadowed precisely in the episode when she is leaving to go see Holofernes, where Judithis described as having a noble disposition and royal appearance:
ותשם כתר מלשות בראשה
she had a royal crown on her head41
יְהוּדִית֙ נֹשֵׂ֣את חֵ֔ן בְּעֵינֵ֖י כׇּל־רֹאֶֽיהָ
[she] won the admiration of all who saw her42
This suggests that it is her actions against Holofernes that lend her the authority to lead her people. Her interior and moral worth is reflected in the royal aspect of her external appearance. However, the meaning behind these descriptions of Judith heading to the enemy’s camp goes deeper than simply to laud the virtues of the heroine. Indeed, both quotations find a direct parallel in the Book of Esther, respectively in 2:17 and 2:15:
(2:17)
וישם כתר־מלכות בראשה וימליכה תחת ושתי So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti
(2:15)
אסתר נשאת חן בעיני כל־ראיה Yet Esther won the admiration of all who saw her.
The Book of Judith was—and still is—already popularly compared to that of Esther, but the author of the Megillat Yehudit furthered this parallel between both heroines: both Judith and Esther are women who are in a relationship with a non-Jew (in Judith’s case, this is a pretence); both are women whom are crowned (metaphorically in Judith’s case) before their victory over the non-Jewish enemy; and both are women who save the Jewish people and become their queen. Through this association, Judith is elevated above other women, comparable only to the most famous of Jewish queens. This nobility—both physical through the royal diadem, and moral through her bravery – is specifically interesting when considered alongside the impurity of a menstruant. A niddah is a figure who carries ritual impurity, and can impart it to whatever or whomever she has contact with. One would assume that the figure of the niddah is one who has power, perhaps, but a power of defilement and impurity. And yet, in the narratives of both Judith and Esther, menstruation is linked to positive power, one that saves the Jewish people.
In the Septuagint and in Jerome’s translation of Esther, texts surely known by the author of the Megillah, Esther surprisingly links her royal power to menstruation:
You know my duty: that I loathe that symbol of my exalted position which is upon my head. When I appear [at court] I loathe it like a menstruous rag. I do not wear it when I am not at court. (VII, Book of Esther, Add. C: 27; RSV, 10:16)
You know not my necessity, that I abominate the sign of my pride and glory, which is upon my head in the days of my public appearance, and I detest it as a menstruous rag, and I do not bear in the days of my silence […]. (Jerome’s Vulgate, 14:16)
Queen Esther loathes the crown that was given to her by her non-Jewish husband as it is symbolic of her necessary concealment of her faith and culture: she must hide who she truly is so as to wear the crown that will ultimately save her people’s lives. By comparing her crown to a menstrual cloth, Esther illustrates that it—symbolically—defiles her as much as her menstrual cycle does. However, it is the crown that is symbolic of Esther’s relationship to the king, as it is her royal status that allows her to foil Haman’s plans to destroy her people. In Judith’s case, it is not a symbolic crown that renders her impure, but her menstrual cycle. However, this menstrual impurity is indeed what allows Judith to be crowned queen: without the necessary menstrual purification in the waters of the mikvah, and the forced sexual separation between Judith and Holofernes, she would not have achieved victory. Thus, the menstrual cloth, and the defilement that come with it—whether symbolic in Esther’s case, or physical in Judith’s—is what permits both Jewish heroines to attain victory. Clearly, the author of the Megillah is tying together both queens, emulating each other’s noble countenance and bearing, and showing that a “defiling” menstrual crown can and should be used against non-Jewish enemies.
Yet, it is not only through the parallel to Queen Esther43 that Judith’s menstrual worth is emphasised, but also through that to King David. When Judith states that she “shall wash [her] hands in innocence,” the author of the Megillah is establishing a comparison to David in Psalms 26:6. He speaks the exact same words when he confesses his sins and expresses atonement: he is declaring his commitment to a righteous and blameless life. David’s “washing of hands” is a symbolic purification, contrasting with Judith’s physical immersion of her entire body into the mikvah, ritually washing away her defilement. However, the author is not simply drawing a connection between two kinds of “washing”—whether metaphorical or physical, both symbolise a loyalty to God and Jewish traditions—but also, as with Esther, linking Judith to the most renowned Hebrew kings, the ancestor of the future Messiah. By doing so, he not only emphasises Judith’s general worth and valour, but also puts a menstruating woman on the same level as King David. Thus, he not only emphasises Judith’s general worth and valour, but also puts a menstruating woman on the same level as King David. Weingarten views this parallel particularly positivity:
the identification of Judith, the victorious Jewish savior, with David, can be seen as part of the Jewish polemic of Megillat Yehudit, which presents the true Davidic redeemer against Christian claims.44
Indeed, the reception of these more ancient Jewish biblical figures within the Megillat Yehudit illustrate the importance of the transmission of Jewish tradition. Indeed, this ties Judith to these Jewish kings and queens of old, not only appropriating her from Christian parallels with the Virgin Mary or Ecclesia, for example, but also highlights the rich history of Judaism. In fact, contrary to Levine’s argument, in which she suggests that the midrashim’s addition of Judith’s menstrual cycle is a way to weaken her and diminish her worth and importance, the Megillah actually makes menstrual cycle the very thing that elevates her to the ranks of David and Esther.
Judith, the “Jewess”
This collection of menstruant-midrashim all illustrate the Jewish re-appropriation of Judith. The fact that in the Megillat Yehudit—as well as the other menstruant-midrashim—the heroine, literally named the “Jewess,” uses Jewish niddah practices to attain victory over the non-Jewish enemies is a striking addition to the original Book of Judith, especially as it only appears in the later Middle Ages. From the eleventh century, the significance of menstruation underwent a transformative evolution within Judaism.45 It ceased to be merely a physiological occurrence but attained a profound symbolic dimension. Menstruation became not only emblematic of female Jewish identity, but also served as a contrasting symbol, highlighting distinctions between Jewish and Christian women. Jewish women by following the niddah regulations demonstrated their commitment to halakha, thereby affirming their allegiance to both community and God. In contrast, Christians neglected these prescribed practices, leading to their perception by Jewish thinkers as in a constant state of ritual impurity and disobedience of true religious practices. Thus, beyond its traditional associations with physical or ritual purity, the menstrual cycle emerged as a potent political and religious marker, delineating the boundaries of community and signalling inclusion—or exclusion. The Megillat Yehudit constitutes a deliberate effort by a Jewish writer to distinguish a Jewish woman from her Christian counterparts, with the menstrual cycle emerging as a pivotal element in this endeavour. It is not necessarily Judith’s menstrual cycle, but the Jewish practices surrounding niddah that become a strategic tool, even a weapon wielded in the struggle against Holofernes. Though Christian texts had appropriated the heroine—literally the “Jewess”—the authors of the menstruant-midrashim, specifically of the Megillah, succeed in re-appropriating Judith, transforming her from a pure Christian widow into an impure Jewish queen.
The author of Megillat Yehudit consistently incorporates biblical references and allusions, some of which were mentioned above. Indeed, she considers it to have:
confused phraseology made up of strings of biblical quotations. But it is precisely this sort of work which can perhaps shed light on the thoughts and feelings of medieval Jews, a beleaguered minority in triumphantly Christian Europe, striving to preserve their own customs and way of life, and doing it here by reclaiming Judith, the Jewess, as their own.46
This deliberate integration, though not unusual, serves as a powerful means of reclaiming the narrative from potential Christian interpretations, instead preserving and transmitting the traditions and cultures of a minority within a dominant societal context. Notably, the author intertwines references to significant biblical figures with the character of Judith, drawing parallels with esteemed individuals such as King David and Queen Esther. This not only aligns Judith with their regal legacy and revered status in Jewish circles but also firmly anchors her within the broader Jewish textual heritage. The midrashim transform Judith into the ideal Jewish woman.47
Building upon this notion of Judith as the ideal Jewish woman is the possibility of drawing parallels between Judith and Jerusalem which reveals a compelling allegorical relationship, with Judith symbolising the essence of Jewish womanhood akin to Jerusalem’s representation of the Jewish people. The transformation of the city of Bethulia, as seen in the original Book of Judith, into the city of Jerusalem immediately discloses a further importance to the latter. When arriving to Holofernes’ camp, her first words to the king are “I am one of the daughters of Israel” (
עפל בת־ציון עדיך תאתה ובאה הממשלה הראשנה לבת ירושלם
Hill of Zion’s daughter, to you it shall come, and the former sovereignty shall come again to the daughter of Jerusalem49
Judith is the promised daughter of Jerusalem who brings an end to Holofernes’ rule and the return of a Jewish reign. Thus, her identity with Jerusalem becomes almost inextricable. As mentioned in a previous chapter, Lamentations introduces a menstruating Jerusalem, who takes on the sins of her people. This allows us to draw a parallel with the impure Judith who also assumes responsibility for her people, and only succeeds in saving them through her use of the menstrual cycle. Notably, the narrative underscores Judith’s role as she “became queen over the land and judged Israel,” linking her not just to her people, but to the actual country and land. This linkage draws a parallel between Judith and the city-woman archetype embodied by Jerusalem: she, in turn, becomes some kind of allegorical figure, beyond a simple individual. Both figures bear a representative significance: Jerusalem as the emblematic city of the Jews, and Judith as the archetypal “Jewess.” Judith’s name, after all, transcends a specific individual, instead serving as a generalised and all-encompassing title for all Jewish women. It is not Judith who saves her people, but rather all Jewish women who follow the correct niddah practices.
Covenant of Blood
The latest of the compiled midrashim, midrash n.12, originating from Venice in the latter half of the sixteenth century, offers a compelling perspective on the evolution and comprehension of Judith’s menstrual cycle throughout the pre-modern period. In this midrash, Judith is not described as a widow, or related to prophets, but is rather the beautiful daughter of Matathias, who offers herself to the heavens and pledges to confront the uncircumcised enemy, vowing to slay him:
כיון שראתה צער ישראל מסרה עצמה לשמים ואמרה אלך אני בעצמי לערל הזה שאני בטוחה במקום שיעשו לי נס ואהרוג את הערל הזה ויושיע את ישראל אל ידי ותעש לה חרב
Once she saw the distress of Israel, she dedicated herself to heaven and said, “I will go myself to this uncircumcised man, as I am confident in God that he’ll make me into a prodigy and I will kill this uncircumcised one, and Israel, and Israel will be saved by hand.” She took a sword, and acted accordingly.50
This starkly distinguishes her Jewish identity from the non-Jewish adversary, emphasising the significance of circumcision rituals integral to Judaism—paralleling the niddah practises to which she herself adheres. The juxtaposition of her speech with the sword illustrates Judith’s dynamism, portraying her female body not as passive but as an active force in this Jewish victory – one that bleeds and causes bleeding. Arriving at the enemy king’s camp, Judith tells him
אבל אודיע לך כי אני טמיאה והיום נשלמו ימי לבוני וכתוב בתורתינו לטבול במים וכדי שאטהר אני צריכה לעשות טבילה קודם שאשבה עדך ואחר אעשה כדור המלך
But I will have you know that I am impure, and today end my days of my purification. It is written in our law to bathe in water. So that I may be pure, I am obligated to take a bath before coming towards you. After this I shall do whatever the king wishes.51
This declaration represents the most explicit justification of Judith’s purification baths in the midrashim. It goes beyond mere restoration of menstrual purity, emphasising adherence to Jewish law and traditions. The stark contrast between Judith’s menstruating body and Holofernes’ uncircumcised one specifically highlights the distinction between Jewish and gentile bodies. A female Jewish body defines her covenant with God not through circumcision, as her male counterpart does, but through her adherence to the niddah regulations. This is evident in polemical texts, such as the following Nizzahon Vetus from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth centuries.
The heretics ask: We baptize both males and females and in that way we accept our faith, but in your case only men and not women can be circumcised. One can respond: Women are accepted because they watch themselves and carefully observe the prohibitions connected with menstrual blood.52
The unnamed author of the Nizzahon Vetus addresses the Christian challenge asserting that Jewish women were not fully integrated into their community due to the absence of circumcision. He counters by emphasising that despite lacking circumcision, Jewish women, who diligently adhere to the restrictions and commandments regarding niddah, are considered equal to circumcised Jewish men. Importantly, this places Jewish women not only above Christian women, who do not observe these prohibitions and remain “uncircumcised,” but also on par with Jewish men in their commitment to forming a covenant with God. Thus, drawing a direct juxtaposition between the menstrual status of Judith and the uncircumcised one of Holofernes illustrates the contrasting statuses of moral, physical, and spiritual superiority. Despite the ritual impurity of Judith’s body, she remains superior to Holofernes, as she follows the practices required in Judaism to purify herself. The combination of references to menstrual purification, circumcision and Jewish practices within the midrash n.12 underscores the paramount importance of Jewish customs, setting this rendition of the Judith narrative in stark and explicit contrast to Christian interpretations. It serves as a resolute re-appropriation of the Jewish heroine, and the inclusion of the menstrual cycle becomes pivotal in achieving this reinterpretation.
Conclusion
During the Middle Ages, Jewish communities grappled with their minority status, particularly in the face of a prevailing Christian majority that often propagated anti-Jewish rhetoric and outright persecution. To counteract this marginalisation, Jews found it necessary to reinforce their distinct religious and cultural identity. Emphasising the importance of the Torah and their adherence to Jewish laws, Jews sought to distinguish themselves from Christians: both spiritually and physically. Jewish scholars actively engaged in theological discourse, defending their beliefs and practices, often underscoring the centrality of the covenant between Jew and God. The preservation of dietary laws as well as the physical circumcision and ritual bathing served as distinctive markers, visibly setting Jews apart from Christians. Circumcision and ritual (im)purity were integral for the covenantal aspect of their faith, and were practices that Christians no longer followed. Thus, these rituals became symbolic expressions of difference and, for the Jewish community, evidence of the superiority of their faith.
In religious discourse, the concept of niddah emerged as a means to differentiate Jewish women from their Christian counterparts, elevating them to a status akin to circumcised men. This shift gave female figures in biblical and religious texts newfound importance, providing a platform for Jewish authors to accentuate the status of niddah as well as the adherence to this Jewish mitzvah. Indeed, Moshe Idel calls Judaism a “halokhocentric religion,”53 in which the following of the religious commandment or law lies at the very heart of the religion in question. Jewish female figures also gained heightened importance due to the surge in popularity of the Virgin Mary in the twelfth century. Ephraim Shoham-Steiner argues that “the empowerment [of Jewish female figures] appears to be a response to the rise of the Christian cult of Mary and its perceived threat to Jews.”54 In this context, Judith emerged as a pivotal figure for medieval Jews, serving as a counterbalance to the idealised portrayal of Mary. Christian texts had previously appropriated Judith, transforming her into a Marian prototype and symbolising virtues such as Chastity, Humility, and Ecclesia.55 However, in the later Middle Ages, a number of Jewish authors took the opportunity to reclaim Judith, reshaping her narrative to counterbalance the Christian depiction of the ideal woman: she became the ultimate Jew, one who adhered to Halakhah and prioritised the meticulous observation of mitzvot. By firmly reintegrating Judith into Judaism, the Jewish community aimed to assert its identity and respond to the prevailing cultural influences.56
The reintroduction of the story of Judith within Jewish texts in the Middle Ages not only highlights the importance of niddah within the Jewish religion, but also participates in medieval Jewish self-definition. Despite Christianity idealising Judith as Marian prototype, the midrashim re-appropriate her through her adherence to Jewish practices connected to the menstrual cycle, such as her purification at the mikvah and restricting herself from sexual intercourse, no matter the risk. Judith becomes the embodiment of her name, “the Jewess,” whose Jewish female body and bodily functions become the heart of the tale, the very elements pushing the narrative and climax forwards. The pre-modern mishrashic authors of the Judith tale receive the figure of the niddah not purely as a woman in a status of ritual impurity, but instead a figure that they could inscribe and idealise their faith and identity upon. By rewriting Judith as niddah, they inscribe themselves into this medieval tradition of using the rituals and traditions of circumcision and niddah as a way to differentiate themselves from their Christian neighbours. It serves simultaneously as a critique of Christians and as a way to strengthen their own self-perception. Whilst following the niddah rules, Judith highlights her own Jewish identity. Thus, by transforming Judith into a menstruating leader, the authors of the midrashim elevate her status and underscore the significance of Jewish practices in the face of Christian appropriation. Menstruation, in this context, serves as a symbolic tool. Just as circumcision was used to differentiate Jewish men from their Christian counterparts, menstruation became the defining factor that separated Jewish from Christian women. It is both a marker of differentiation from non-Jews, as well as a symbolic marker of Jewish community and faith.
Bibliography
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Berger, David, ed. The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages: A Critical Edition of the Nizzahon Vetus with an Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. Boston, MA: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979.
Biale, David. Blood and Belief: The Circulation of a Symbol between Jews and Christians. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007.
Börner-Klein, Dagmar. “Judith in the Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages.” In The Jewish Middle Ages, edited by Carol Bakhos and Gerhard Langer, 55–70. Atlanta, GA: The Society of Biblical Literature, 2023.
Callahan, Leslie Abend. “Ambiguity and Appropriation: The Story of Judith in Medieval Narrative and Iconographic.” In Telling Tales: Medieval Narratives and the Folk Tradition, edited by Francesca Canadé Sautman, Diana Conchado, and Guiseppe Carlo Di Scipio, 79–99. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998.
Ciletti, Elena, and Henrike Lähnemann. “Judith in the Christian Tradition.” In The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines, edited by Kevin Brine, Elena Ciletti, and Henrike Lähnemann, 41–66. Cambridge: Cambridge Open Book Publishers, 2010.
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Cohen, Shaye. Why Aren’t Jewish Women Circumcised? Gender and Covenant in Judaism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005.
Crawford, Sidnie White. “Esther and Judith: Contrasts in Character.” In The Book of Esther in Modern Research, edited by Leonard Greenspoon and Sidnie White Crawford, 61–77. London: T & T Clark International, 2003.
Dubarle, André-Marie. Judith: Formes et Sens des Diverses Traditions. Rome: Institut Biblique Pontifical, 1966.
Enslin, Morton S. The Book of Judith: Greek Text. Leiden: Brill, 1972.
Gallagher, Edmon L. “Why Did Jerome Translate Tobit and Judith?” Harvard Theological Review 108, n. 3 (2015): 356–375.
Gaster, Moses. An Unknown Hebrew Version of the History of Judith. London: Harrison and Sons, date unknown.
Gera, Deborah Levine. “The Jewish Textual Traditions.” In The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines, edited by Kevin Brine, Elena Ciletti, and Henrike Lähnemann, 23–40. Cambridge: Cambridge Open Book Publishers, 2010.
Gera, Deborah Levine. Judith. Boston, MA: De Gruyter, 2014.
Green, Arthur. “Shekhinah, the Virgin Mary, and the Song of Songs: Reflections on a Kabbalistic Symbol in Its Historical Context.” AJS Review 26, no. 1 (2002): 1–52.
Hasselhoff, Görge K. “Revising the Vulgate: Jerome and His Jewish Interlocutors.” Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 64, n. 3 (2012): 209–221.
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Koren, Sharon Faye. “Immaculate Sarah: Echoes of Eve/Mary Dichotomy in the Zohar.” Viator 41, no. 2 (2010): 183–197.
Koren, Sharon Faye. “Kabbalistic Physiology: Isaac the Blind, Nahmanides, and Moses de Leon on Menstruation.” AJS Review 28, no. 2 (2004): 317–339.
Koren, Sharon Faye. “The Menstruant as “Other” in Medieval Judaism and Christianity.” Nashim 17 (2009): 33–59.
Levine, Amy Jill. “Sacrifice and Salvation: Otherness and Domestication in the Book of Judith.” In A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna, edited by Athalya Brenner, 208–223. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995.
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See. M. S. Enslin, The Book of Judith: Greek Text (Leiden: Brill, 1972), 37.
On the Latin translation of Judith, see E. L. Gallagher, “Why Did Jerome Translate Tobit and Judith?” HTR 108, n. 3 (2015): 356–75; G. K. Hasselhoff, “Revising the Vulgate: Jerome and His Jewish Interlocutors,” Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 64, n. 3 (2012): 209–21.
See more on Judith as an exemplary Christian woman in E. Ciletti and H. Lähnemann, “Judith in the Christian Tradition,” in The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines, eds. K. Brine et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge Open Book Publishers, 2010), 41–66; F. Stella, “The Women of the Old Testament in Early Medieval Poetry: Judith and the Others,” in The Early Middle Ages, eds. F. E. Consolino and J. Herrin (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2020), 231–58.
The earliest Hebrew version of this tale, hereby referred to as the Midrash de Gaster or Midrash n. 1, was found in a manuscript dating inconclusively to either the tenth or eleventh century. For the sake of clarity, I will be assuming that Midrash n. 1 dates from the tenth century. See: A.-M. Dubarle, Judith: Formes et Sens des Diverses Traditions (Rome: Institut Biblique Pontifical, 1966), 80.
D. Levine Gera, “The Jewish Textual Traditions,” in The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines, eds. K. Brine et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge Open Book Publishers, 2010), 23–40.
It is unclear whether the original Book of Judith was written in Hebrew or Greek, and many academics have worked on this. See: Gallagher, “Why did Jerome Translate Tobit and Judith;” Hasselhoff, “Revisiting the Vulgate;” C. A. Moore, The Anchor Bible – Judith: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985); D. Börner-Klein, “Judith in the Hebrew Literature of the Middle Ages,” in The Jewish Middle Ages, eds. C. Bakhos and G. Langer (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2023), 55–70.
The first known translation of the Latin Vulgate into Hebrew is from the twelfth century. See Dubarle, Judith, 25.
The concept of niddah is not exactly translatable to menstruation. “Niddah” is a term to describe the state of a menstruating woman, it encompasses her very being; her identity changes and does not change back until she immerses herself into the mikvah, even if she has stopped bleeding; a menstruant is any person at any point who menstruates; menstruation is the act of bleeding. It becomes the site of an intersection between the menstruating reality and the imagined cultural and religious mores surrounding it.
See more on menstruation in Kabbalah in S. F. Koren, Forsaken: The Menstruant in Medieval Jewish Mysticism, (Brandeis University Press, 2011); ibid., “Kabbalistic Physiology: Isaac the Blind, Nahmanides, and Moses de Leon on Menstruation,” AJS Review 28, no. 2 (2004): 317–39; ibid. “The Menstruant as “Other” in Medieval Judaism and Christianity,” Nashim 17 (2009): 33–59.
I. Cohen, “Menstruation and Religion: Developing a Critical Menstrual Studies Approach,” in The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies, ed. C. Bobel et al. (Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), 125.
See more on menstruation as covenantal in D. Biale, Blood and Belief, The Circulation of a Symbol between Jews and Christians (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007); and S. Cohen, Why Aren’t Jewish Women Circumcised? Gender and Covenant in Judaism (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005).
A.-M. Dubarle, Judith: Formes et Sens des Diverses Traditions (Rome: Institut Biblique Pontifical, 1966).
See D. Levine Gera, Judith (Boston, MA: De Gruyter, 2014), 21.
Midrash n.1; midrash n.2; midrash n.4; midrash n.5; midrash n.7a; midrash n.7b; midrash n.9 use “ndh.”
Known as the midrash n.8 in Dubarle’s compilation of medieval Jewish versions of Judith.
It is found in only one manuscript, housed in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, A. Neubauer Catalogue no. 2746 = Heb. e. 10, fol. 66v-72v.
A. Neubauer, Catalogue of the Hebrew Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library and in the College Libraries of Oxford : Including MSS. in Other Languages, Which Are Written with Hebrew Characters, or Relating to the Hebrew Language or Literature; and a Few Samaritan MSS (Oxford: Clarendon, 1994), 2: x, and 170.
Dubarle, Judith, 149. All translations of the midrashim from Hebrew into English are based off Dubarle’s translation into French and my own.
Lev 15:25: “When a woman has had a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstruation, or when she has a discharge beyond the period of menstruation, she shall be impure, as though at the time of her menstruation, as long as her discharge lasts.”
B. Nid. 66:a.
E. Baumgarten, Biblical Women and Jewish Daily Life in the Middles Ages (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022), 28.
Dubarle, Judith, 148.
See R. Wasserfall, Women and Water: Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 1999), 6.
See ibid., 5.
From a Persian manuscript dating from the fifteenth century, though Gaster dates ms. Heb. 82 as being from the tenth or eleventh century. See M. Gaster, An Unknown Hebrew Version of the History of Judith (London: Harrison and Sons, n.d.), 3.
Dubarle, Judith, 102.
Gaster, An Unknown Hebrew Version, 2.
See Dubarle, Judith, 107; Börner Klein, “Judith in the Hebrew Literature,” 59.
Dubarle, Judith, 107.
Ibid., 106.
Midrash n.1; midrash n.2; midrash n.4; midrash n.5; midrash n.7a; midrash n.7b; midrash n.9 use “ndh.”
Dubarle, Judith, 148.
Ibid., 148.
B. Nid. 31b:12.
Dubarle, Judith, 148.
Ibid.
C. Tamber-Rosenau, “Biblical Bathing Beauties and the Manipulation of the Male Gaze: What Judith Can Tell Us about Bathsheba and Susanna,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 33, no. 2. (2017): 69.
Ibid.
The five megillot include Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations and Ecclesiates. They are also included in the Christian Old Testament.
Dubarle, Judith, 150.
Ibid. 144.
Ibid.
For a comparison between the Book of Esther and the Book of Judith see S. White Crawford, “Esther and Judith: Contrasts in Character,” in The Book of Esther in Modern Research, eds. L. Greenspoon and S. White Crawford (London: T& T Clark International, 2003), 61–77.
S. Weingarten, “Food, Sex, and Redemption in Megillat Yehudit (the “Scroll of Judith”),” in The Sword of Judith: Judith Studies Across the Disciplines, eds. K. Brine, et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge Open Book Publishers, 2010), 109.
See Biale, Blood and Belief.
Weingarten, “Food, Sex, and Redemption,” 109. Italics mine.
Weingarten, “Food, Sex, and Redemption,” 107–109.
Dubarle, Judith, 146.
Ibid., 142.
Dubarle, Judith, 171.
Ibid., 172.
D. Berger, ed. The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages: A Critical Edition of the Nizzahon Vetus with an Introd., Translation, and Commentary (Boston, MA: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), 224.
M. Idel, Kabbalah and Eros (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2005), 23.
E. Shoham-Steiner, “The Virgin Mary, Miriam, and Jewish Reactions to Marian Devotion in the High Middle Ages,” AJS Review 37, no. 1 (2013), 77. See more on Jewish female figures in response to Christianity in A. Green, “Shekhinah, the Virgin Mary, and the Song of Songs: Reflections on a Kabbalistic Symbol in Its Historical Context,” AJS Review 26, no. 1 (2002): 1–52; S. F. Koren, “Immaculate Sarah: Echoes of Eve/Mary Dichotomy in the Zohar,” Viator 41, no. 2 (2010): 183–97.
See L. Abend Callahan, “Ambiguity and Appropriation: The Story of Judith in Medieval Narrative and Iconographic,” in Telling Tales: Medieval Narratives and the Folk Tradition, eds. F. Canadé Sautman, et al. (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998), 79–99; Weingarten “Food, Sex, and Redemption.”
See A. J. Levine, “Sacrifice and Salvation: Otherness and Domestication in the Book of Judith,” in A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna, ed. A. Brenner (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), 208–23.