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The eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah commemorates ancient Jews’ victory over the powerful Seleucid empire, which ruled much of the Middle East from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. On the surface, it’s a story of male heroism. A ragtag rebel force led by a rural priest and his five sons, called the Maccabees, freed the Jews from oppressive rulers. Hanukkah, which means “rededication” in Hebrew, celebrates the Maccabees’ victory, which allowed the Jews to rededicate their temple in Jerusalem, the center of ancient Jewish worship. But as a professor of Jewish history , I believe that seeing Hanukkah this way misses the inspiring women who were prominent in the earliest tellings of the story. The bravery of a young widow named Judith is at the heart of an ancient book that bears her name. The heroism of a second woman, an unnamed mother of seven sons, appears in a book known as 2 Maccabees. These books are not included in the Hebrew scriptures, but appear in other collections of religious texts known as the Septuagint and the Apocrypha . According to these texts, Judith was a young Israelite widow in a town called Bethulia, strategically situated on a mountain pass into Jerusalem. To besiege Jerusalem, the Seleucid army first needed to capture Bethulia. Facing such a formidable enemy, the townsfolk were terrified. Unless God immediately intervened, they decided, they would simply surrender . Enslavement was preferable to certain death. But Judith scolded the local leaders for testing God, and was brave enough to take matters into her own hands. Removing her widow’s clothing, she entered the enemy camp. She beguiled the Seleucid general, Holofernes, with her beauty, and promised to give her people over to him. Hoping to seduce her, Holofernes prepared a feast . By the time his entourage left him alone with Judith, he was drunk and asleep. Now she carried out her plan: cutting off his head and escaping back to Bethulia. The following morning, the discovery of Holofernes’ headless body left the Seleucid army trembling with fear. Soldiers fled by every available path as Bethulia’s Jews, recovering their courage, rushed in and slaughtered them. Judith’s bravery saved her town and, with it, Jerusalem. The book of 2 Maccabees, Chapter 7, meanwhile, relates the story of an unnamed Jewish mother and her seven sons, who were seized by the Seleucids. Emperor Antiochus commanded that they eat pork, which is forbidden by the Torah, to show their obedience to him. One at a time, the sons refused. An enraged Antiochus subjected them to unspeakable torture. Each son withstood the ordeal and is portrayed as a model of bravery. Resurrection awaits those who die in the service of God, they proclaimed, while for Antiochus and his followers, only death and divine punishment lay ahead. Throughout these ordeals, their mother encouraged her sons to accept their suffering. “She reinforced her woman’s reasoning with a man’s courage,” as 2 Maccabees relates, and admonished her sons to remember their coming reward from God. Having killed the first six brothers, Antiochus promised the youngest a fortune if only he would reject his faith. His mother told the boy, “Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again along with your brothers.” The story in 2 Maccabees ends with the simple statement that, after her sons’ deaths, the mother also died. Later retellings give the mother a name. Most commonly, she is called Hannah , based on a detail in the biblical book of 1 Samuel . In this section, called the “prayer of Hannah,” the prophet Samuel’s mother refers to herself as having borne seven children. Jewish educator and author Erica Brown has emphasized a lesson we should learn from the story of Judith, one that emerges from 2 Maccabees as well. “Just like the Hanukkah story generally, the message of these texts is that it’s not always the likely candidates who save the day,” she writes . “Sometimes salvation comes when you least expect it, from those who are least likely to deliver it.” Three hundred years after the Maccabean revolt, Judaism’s earliest rabbis stressed a similar message. Adding a new focus to Hanukkah, they spoke of a divine miracle that occurred when the ancient Jews took back the Temple and wanted to relight the holy “ eternal flame ” inside. They found just one small vessel of oil, sufficient to light the flame for only one day – but it lasted eight days, giving them time to produce a new supply. As the influential rabbi David Hartman pointed out , the Hanukkah story celebrates “our people’s strength to live without guarantees of success.” Some ordinary person, he points out, took the initiative to rekindle the eternal flame, despite how futile doing so may have seemed. Ever since, Judaism has increasingly focused on the interaction of the human and the divine. The Hanukkah story teaches listeners that they all must play a part to repair a hurting world. Not everyone needs to be a Judith or Hannah; but, like them, we humans can’t wait for God to take care of it. In synagogues, one of the readings for the week during Hanukkah is from the prophet Zechariah , who proclaimed, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” These words succinctly capture the meaning of Hanukkah and express what Jews might think about while lighting the Hanukkah candles: our responsibility to act in the spirit of God to create the miracles the world needs to become a place of beauty, equity and freedom. [ Get the best of The Conversation’s politics, science or religion articles each week. Sign up today .] This article is republished from The Conversation , a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Alan Avery-Peck , College of the Holy Cross Read more: Alan Avery-Peck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.Here's how much money you need to make to live alone in Calgary

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Keir Starmer is considering giving Sue Gray a place in the House of Lords, it has been reported, after she turned down the offer of becoming the PM’s ‘envoy to the regions and nations’. Last month it emerged that Sue Gray would not be taking up the post, which the PM had offered her as a consolation prize after she quit as Downing Street chief of staff amid infighting, briefings and turmoil. However this evening it appears she could be in line for a major golden handshake, as Sir Keir is considering handing her a place in the House of Lords. The Financial Times reports that Sir Keir is set to put a number of Labour figures into the upper chamber, which is currently disproportionately full of Tories . The PM is looking at handing peerages to former MPs who stepped down from safe Labour seats at the election in order to ‘make way for new party talent’. They include Lyn Brown, Julie Elliott and Kevin Brennan. Thangam Debbonaire, the former shadow culture secretary who lost her Bristol seat to the Greens, is also in line for a political return via the Lords. While the FT initially said that Sue Gray had been on an early draft list of those set to appear on the New Years honours, government insiders had become unsure about whether she will make the final cut. However in an update shortly after, they clarified that the former Chief of Staff is still in line for a peerage. The LibDems will also get to appoint peers, after returning to the third largest party in the Commons. While Rishi Sunak has not submitted his list yet, but it could include Michael Gove, former chief whip Simon Hart, and former Scottish Secretary Alister Jack. It’s also believed Rishi Sunak may break with tradition by not appointing any party donors to the Lords, something causing concern in Tory high command as it may disincentivise future donations. In November, a civil service ally of Ms Gray said she had turned down the job offer of envoy to the regions and nations after having “taken time to think about it properly”. They added: “Ultimately she’s decided she doesn’t want to do it.” Appointing Sue Gray to the Lords could pour further fuel on the fire, coming shortly after Sir Keir faced backlash for allowing sacked Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to depart from government with a £17,000 golden handshake of her own. Despite resigning after it was revealed she had a fraud offence prior to entering politics, Ms Haigh will be entitled to three month’s salary. This comes in spite of Labour previously demanding a change to the rules so ministers who leave office due to a scandal are no longer entitled to the taxpayer pay-out. A Downing Street source said they do not comment on speculation around honours or peerages.

Stock market today: Wall Street hits records despite tariff talkAs if it were the main character of the movie V for Vendetta, the public has unleashed total frenzy for Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson. But for the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, the man is “not a hero” as people have portrayed him. PUBLICIDAD "In the United States, we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve political differences or express a point of view," Shapiro said during a press conference on Monday night after Mangione's appearance in court. " He is not a hero. The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald's this morning ," he added. PUBLICIDAD How has the public support been for Luigi Mangione? Mangione, who was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, this Monday, had been hailed as a sort of masked vigilante since the crime was made public, while he still remained anonymous as authorities struggled to determine his identity and location. Before he was identified, the security images that captured him just a few hours after the crime, where part of his face was visible, incited many people online to speculate, to the point of wonder, about who this hooded killer could be. Even a 'look-alike' contest was held where Mangione was the 'character' to be copied in appearance ; similar to those that have been done for celebrities like Timothée Chalamet or Harry Styles. After Mangione's identity became public, support only increased. First, there were mass negative reviews, or 'review bombing,' on the McDonald's establishment where he was arrested, and then came the financial support, where he even managed to accumulate the sum of 200 thousand dollars in a fundraising campaign through the GoFundMe platform to pay for his legal expenses. The campaigns created were requesting funds to ensure that the young American had "a fair trial," as reported by The Independent. GoFundMe had to delete all the pages, stating that "GoFundMe's Terms of Service prohibit fundraising for the legal defense of violent crimes. Fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded," said a GoFundMe spokesperson. Mangione, from whom information continues to emerge as the hours go by, was charged with murder, along with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, one count of possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, and one count of criminal possession of a firearm in the third degree, as shown in online court documents.Kansas once required voters to prove citizenship. That didn't work out so well

NoneKansas once required voters to prove citizenship. That didn't work out so well

Mayor Eric Adams vows to work with the Trump administration to get migrants who commit crimes out of New York City