The feminist Chanukah story I didn't know I needed

This story was originally published on HeyAlma.

Most of the women in the Bible fall into a few distinct categories. There are the wise wives and mothers like Sarah, Rebecca and Yocheved, required to make hard decisions to protect their children. Then there are the tragic romantic damsels, the ready-for-soap-opera players: Rachel, Leah and Bathsheba. Silent sufferers who survive humiliation, poverty and assault with grace - like Tamar, Ruth and Esther - are credited with saving Jewish continuity and tradition. But supporting figures who speak their minds, women like Miriam and Michal, often pay...