{"id":54728,"date":"2018-07-09T17:42:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-215\/"},"modified":"2022-12-01T08:38:41","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T06:38:41","slug":"wall-215","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-215\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Judges-4"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"215","date":"20260625","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"54876","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Judges Chapter 4 - Read by Jonathan Roumie ","post_title":"Judges Chapter 4 - Read by Jonathan Roumie","slug":"judges-chapter-4-read-by-jonathan-roumie","old_id":"54876","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Judges 4","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"read by Jonathan Roumie","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_Judges_Chapter_4_read_by_Jonathan_Roumie","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"109548","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Deborah: Eishet Lapidot ","post_title":"Deborah: Eishet Lapidot","slug":"deborah-eishet-lapidot","old_id":"109548","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41916,"post_title":"Sandra E. Rapoport","slug":"sandra-e-rapoport","old_id":"41916","first_name":"Sandra E. ","last_name":"Rapoport ","description":"Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, Bible teacher, and award-winning author whose books give voice to the women of the Bible. Her third book, Biblical Seductions, was a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist and a Boston Globe Top-Ten Bestseller. Her fourth and most recent book, The Queen & The Spymaster, is a novel based on the story of Esther.","short_description":"Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, Bible teacher, and award-winning author of four books on Bible and Midrash.\r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41917,"alt":"","title":"sandra rapoport","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","width":150,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Torch and the Lightning herald the victory of God\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The stories of the six major Israelite judges pulse with excitement, literary drama and brutality. They occur during a lawless century-and-a-half between Joshua\u2019s conquests of Canaan and the anointing of Saul, first king of Israel. Yet even among the exciting stories of Ehud (left-handed warrior-judge who kills Eglon, king of Moav, in his toilet, Jud. 3) and Samson (Israel\u2019s lone superhero, Jud.13-16), the story of Deborah (Jud. 4-5) stands out as exceptional.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The refrain in these stories is that the recalcitrant Israelites revert again and again to following the idolatrous gods of their Canaanite neighbors, and suffer decades of crushing enemy rule as punishment. The Israelite God, taking pity on them, sends successive saviors to fight Israel\u2019s battles.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Deborah, the sole female judge in Tanach, is\u00a0 <\/span>isha nevi\u2019ah<\/span><\/i>\u2014a prophet-woman who speaks with divine authority\u2014a judge, a military general, and a poet. Deborah also is <\/span>Eishet Lapidot<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>a Woman of Torches<\/span><\/i>. Samson Raphael Hirsch and Tikva Frymer Kensky interpret this to mean that Deborah is lit from within, fired-up to do God\u2019s justice. Her nickname, <\/span>Eishet Lapidot<\/span><\/i>, could also, in the tradition of biblical names, hint at her essence. It is Deborah who functions as the torch, the essential impetus, that sets the reluctant and fearful general Barak (meaning \u201clightning\u201d) on fire, spurring him to take Israel into battle against fearsome Sisera. <\/span>Lo elech!<\/span><\/i> I will not go!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 says Barak. Deborah responds, <\/span>Elech!<\/span><\/i> I<\/i><\/b> will go with you!<\/span><\/i> jump-starting a battle that ends in a surprise rout of King Yavin and general Sisera, and is a great victory for God and Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Deborah has God on her side <\/span>physically <\/span><\/i>as well as <\/span>spiritually<\/span><\/i>. On the eve of battle God sends a great storm, turning the battleground into an impassable torrent. It is God\u2019s sodden battlefield that defeats Sisera, incapacitating his 900 iron chariots.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The author of Judges also may have used the main characters\u2019 names to play off a popular Mesopotamian myth. Canaanite lore says that the Torch and the Lightning herald the powerful Storm god. This fits our story precisely. Deborah, the <\/span>torch<\/b>-woman, fires up Barak, <\/span>lightning<\/b> general of Israel. <\/span>Only then<\/span><\/i> does the God of Israel join the fight, harnessing Nature.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We hear echoes here of God drowning Egypt\u2019s chariots at the Reed Sea. Earlier in that story, Zipporah, a Midianite woman, saves Moses from death. Who is God\u2019s human instrument in Deborah\u2019s story?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":109549,"alt":"","title":"-63876370b4892--63876370b4893jud4-lightning torch hands.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","width":822,"height":677,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-300x247.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":247,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-768x633.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":633,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","large-width":822,"large-height":677,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":822,"1536x1536-height":677,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":822,"2048x2048-height":677,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":822,"post_full_size-height":677,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-510x420.jpg","home_baner-width":510,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Deborah: Eishet Lapidot","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Torch and the Lightning herald the victory of God","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":109549,"alt":"","title":"-63876370b4892--63876370b4893jud4-lightning torch hands.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","width":822,"height":677,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-300x247.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":247,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-768x633.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":633,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","large-width":822,"large-height":677,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":822,"1536x1536-height":677,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":822,"2048x2048-height":677,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":822,"post_full_size-height":677,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/11\/63876370b4892-63876370b4893jud4-lightning-torch-hands.jpg-510x420.jpg","home_baner-width":510,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"874","name":"Deborah","old_id":"1274"}]},{"order":3,"id":"109551","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Finally, A Woman Leader ","post_title":"Finally, A Woman Leader","slug":"finally-a-woman-leader","old_id":"109551","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And the general is #2\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

For the first time in Israelite history, the nation has a female leader. Females had played important roles in the past. The foremothers were integral to the development of the nation. Miriam played a leading role in the Exodus and sang a special song with the women after the splitting of the sea. The daughters of Zelophehad helped change the rules of inheritance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But Deborah the prophetess was the first to be the outright leading figure. Her role was accepted by the people without any controversy, and although Barak is a prominent figure, he is not on the same level as she. The introductory verse \u201cDeborah, wife of Lappidoth, was a prophetess; she led Israel at that time\u201d (verse 4) is quite telling. So far there have been three other judges, none of those judges are referred to as a prophet. Deborah has this extra level to her leadership.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first two judges, Othniel and Ehud, were raised up by God to assist the people:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised a champion for the Israelites to deliver them: Othniel the Kenizzite, a younger kinsman of Caleb (3:9);<\/span><\/p>\r\n

and\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a champion for them: the Benjaminite Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man (3:15).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Deborah, it seems, becomes a judge of the people on her own. The first three judges were all warriors in some way, but Deborah is the first one who is described as also have an administrative role: \u201cShe used to sit under the Palm of Deborah, between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites would come to her for decisions\u201d (verse 5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Deborah also has the authority to summon Barak into battle:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

She summoned Barak son of Abinoam, of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, \u2018The LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded: Go, march up to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun\u2019\u201d (verse 6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Barak requests that she go with him into battle as support even if, as Deborah says, it could harm his reputation. Barak is not worried about it at all. The interaction between the two resembles that of Moses and Joshua. Deborah, like Moses, was the prophet and true leader. Joshua and Barak were the disciple warriors that followed the guidance of the leader. The battle with Sisera is similar to the battle with Amalek wherein it is Moses and Deborah directing the battle from afar, with Barak and Joshua fighting in the trenches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The end of the chapter and the story of Yael is an exclamation point on the theme of the chapter: that women can be leaders in the Israelite nation without any hesitation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":92528,"alt":"","title":"pro12-woman of valor virtuous woman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman.png","width":1637,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-768x901.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":901,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-873x1024.png","large-width":873,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman.png","1536x1536-width":1310,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman.png","2048x2048-width":1637,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-1023x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1023,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-358x420.png","home_baner-width":358,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Finally, A Woman Leader","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And the general is #2","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":92528,"alt":"","title":"pro12-woman of valor virtuous woman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman.png","width":1637,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-768x901.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":901,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-873x1024.png","large-width":873,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman.png","1536x1536-width":1310,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman.png","2048x2048-width":1637,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-1023x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1023,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/pro12-woman-of-valor-virtuous-woman-358x420.png","home_baner-width":358,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"874","name":"Deborah","old_id":"1274"}]},{"order":4,"id":"55141","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Cool And Collected ","post_title":"Cool And Collected","slug":"cool-and-collected","old_id":"55141","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36149,"post_title":"Shai Secunda","slug":"shai-secunda","old_id":"36149","first_name":"Shai ","last_name":"Secunda","description":"Shai Secunda occupies the Jacob Neusner chair in Judaism at Bard College, where he directs the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions program. He is the author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Sasanian Iran (Philadelphia, 2014), and The Talmud\u2019s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context (Oxford, 2020), and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture.","short_description":"Shai Secunda is a professor of Jewish studies at Bard College, and writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books on Jewish scholarship and culture. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36150,"alt":"","title":"Shai Secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","width":1202,"height":1287,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-956x1024.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","1536x1536-width":1202,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","2048x2048-width":1202,"2048x2048-height":1287,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-1121x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-392x420.jpg","home_baner-width":392,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A woman\u2019s portrayal of a woman\u2019s victory","post_main_content_content":"

The fourth chapter of the book of Judges presents us with the full frenzy of war. Sisera, the Canaanite commander, is battle-ready, and the prophetess, Deborah, summons Barak, who gathers the tribes. As the text describes the war, one can almost hear the whinnying of horses and clashing of metal, smell the blood and sweat. Yet, the war against the Canaanites is not won on the heated battlefield, rather in the shaded calm of Yael\u2019s tent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Assassination by tent-pin and mallet seems like a particularly gruesome way to die, and the seething ferocity of this moment \u2013 and the sexual violence which some assumed preceded it \u2013 was oft-captured in European art. Yet one of the most memorable images of Yael and Sisera, by the overlooked Italian Baroque painter, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593\u20131653), puts things differently.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Artemisia was an exceedingly accomplished painter. Indeed, she was the first woman to be admitted to the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts. Born into a family of artists, Artemisia studied with the painter, Agostino Tassi, who also raped her. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Artemisia\u2019s painting is remarkable for of its heightened sense of collected calm. Sisera lies peacefully, half asleep on the floor, his useless sword cast to the side. With neither fright or frenzy, Jael positions the peg with one hand, and raises the mallet with the other. If it is a fantasy of rape avenged, as some have argued, it is not hysterical but purposeful and just. With the swing of the hammer, Yael brings an end to this vicious bully.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Artemisia Gentileschi, <\/span>Giaele e Sisara<\/span><\/i>, 1620, Museum of Fine Arts \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55142,"alt":"","title":"jud4-yael-secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda.jpg","width":1280,"height":929,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-300x218.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":218,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-768x557.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":557,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-1024x743.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":743,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":929,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":929,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-1200x871.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":871,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-579x420.jpg","home_baner-width":579,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Cool And Collected","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A woman\u2019s portrayal of a woman\u2019s victory","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55142,"alt":"","title":"jud4-yael-secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda.jpg","width":1280,"height":929,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-300x218.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":218,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-768x557.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":557,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-1024x743.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":743,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":929,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":929,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-1200x871.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":871,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-secunda-579x420.jpg","home_baner-width":579,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"572","name":"Victim","old_id":"972"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"690","name":"Art","old_id":"1090"},{"term_id":"762","name":"Murder","old_id":"1162"}]},{"order":5,"id":"55148","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Deborah and Yael: Heroine Role Models ","post_title":"Deborah And Yael: Heroine Role Models","slug":"deborah-and-yael-heroine-role-models","old_id":"55148","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":52873,"post_title":"Tikva Frymer-Kensky","slug":"tikva-frymer-kensky","old_id":"52873","first_name":"Tikva ","last_name":"Frymer-Kensky","description":"Dr. Tikva Frymer-Kensky (1943-2006) had been the director of Biblical Studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and was a professor of Hebrew Bible and the History of Judaism at the University of Chicago. She was a pioneer in combining rigorous study of the ancient Near East with rigorous feminism. She received her bachelor's degree in ancient world studies from City College of New York and a bachelor's in Hebrew Literature in Bible and Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1965, a master's in West Semitics from Yale in 1967, and a doctorate in Assyriology and Sumerology from Yale in 1977.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Tikva Frymer-Kensky (1943-2006) was a professor of Hebrew Bible and the History of Judaism at the University of Chicago, and had been the director of Biblical Studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52874,"alt":"","title":"tikva frymer-kensky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","width":125,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky-125x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":125,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","medium-width":125,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","medium_large-width":125,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","large-width":125,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","1536x1536-width":125,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","2048x2048-width":125,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","post_full_size-width":125,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/tikva-frymer-kensky.jpg","home_baner-width":125,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What can learn about their roles from their names?","post_main_content_content":"

Deborah<\/b> is a prophet-woman, someone who speaks with divine authority, and she is <\/span>Lapidot-woman.<\/span> Eshet lapidot<\/span><\/em> could be translated \"wife of Lapidot,\" but it also means \"woman of torches.\" <\/span>Lapidot<\/span><\/em>, \"torches,\" comes where we would normally expect a husband's name, but it is a strange-sounding name for a man and, moreover, does not have the standard patronymic \"son of.\" Translating it \"wife of Lapidot\" has the advantage of emphasizing that a prophet could be married and that a married woman could have another role. On the other hand, \"woman of torches\" or \"fiery woman\" fits the image of Deborah and would fit the story in the manner of biblical names. \"Torch-Lady\" provides a significant wordplay, for it is Deborah, not her husband, who is the torch that sets the general Barak (whose name means \"lightning\") on fire. Moreover, in Mesopotamian mythology, the torch and the lightning (<\/span>sullat<\/em> <\/span>and <\/span>hanis<\/span><\/em>) are the heralds of the storm god. In the same way, \"Torch-Lady\" and \"Lightning\" are fit agents for the God of Israel who defeats Sisera by creating a river of mud to incapacitate his chariots\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Both the story and the song emphasize the fact that Deborah is a woman\u2026 And the song stresses that Deborah was a \"mother in Israel.\" Deborah is not the typical \"mother\": she does not stay home protecting the children and waiting the return of the husband. If she had children, they played no part in the story. The motherhood of this \"mother in Israel\" goes beyond biology. It describes her role as counselor during the days before the war, and it indicates her role in preserving the heritage of Israel, in her case, by advising in battle\u2026 protecting the people in time of danger.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"Blessed be <\/span>Yael<\/b> by women\" (5:24) \u2013 Here is the warrior Yael whom Deborah mentioned at the beginning of her song (5:6). A woman warrior, perhaps married, the wife of Heber the Kenite. And perhaps not, for <\/span>heber<\/span><\/em> means \"a group.\" Instead of Yael the wife of Heber the Kenite, the Song may refer to Yael the woman of a band of Kenites. Whether mentioned or not, the husbands of Yael and Deborah play no role in the action. But Yael's womanness is important: she is <\/span>ishah<\/span><\/em> \"woman\" (or wife). Deborah calls on women to praise her; translators who are perhaps influenced by the way they read Elizabeth's blessing of Mary (\"blessed among women,\" Luke 1:42) often put it that Yael is most blessed of women. There is a subtle difference: to translate \"most blessed of women\" is to imply that Yael is alone among women to be such a heroine; <\/span>Blessed be Yael by women<\/span><\/em> calls for women to claim Yael as their own heroine and even role model. The Hebrew <\/span>tevorach minashim<\/span> ya'el<\/span><\/em> can be understood both ways. The reader must decide: Do all women have this capacity for ferocity and courage?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Tikva Freymer-Kensky, \"Warriors of Weapon and Word: Deborah and Yael,\" in <\/span>Reading the Women of the Bible<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>Schocken: 2002, pp. 45-57.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Salomon de Bray: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Jael, Deborah, and Barak, <\/span><\/i>c. 1630 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55150,"alt":"","title":"jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael,_Deborah,_and_Barak","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","width":461,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","medium_large-width":461,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","large-width":461,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","1536x1536-width":461,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","2048x2048-width":461,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","post_full_size-width":461,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak-323x420.jpg","home_baner-width":323,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Women of Story and Song \u2013 1","tile_main_caption":"Deborah and Yael: Heroine Role Models","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What can learn about their roles from their names?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55150,"alt":"","title":"jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael,_Deborah,_and_Barak","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","width":461,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","medium_large-width":461,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","large-width":461,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","1536x1536-width":461,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","2048x2048-width":461,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","post_full_size-width":461,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak-323x420.jpg","home_baner-width":323,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"519","name":"Courage","old_id":"919"},{"term_id":"551","name":"Names","old_id":"951"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"}]},{"order":6,"id":"55152","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The New Colossus of Mount Tabor ","post_title":"The New Colossus Of Mount Tabor","slug":"the-new-colossus-of-mount-tabor","old_id":"55152","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":52019,"post_title":"Chesky Kopel","slug":"chesky-kopel","old_id":"52019","first_name":"Chesky ","last_name":"Kopel ","description":"Chesky Kopel is antitrust lawyer, husband, and father living in Philadelphia.","short_description":"Chesky Kopel is antitrust lawyer, husband, and father living in Philadelphia.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52046,"alt":"","title":"chesky kopel.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","width":191,"height":220,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","medium-width":191,"medium-height":220,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","medium_large-width":191,"medium_large-height":220,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","large-width":191,"large-height":220,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","1536x1536-width":191,"1536x1536-height":220,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","2048x2048-width":191,"2048x2048-height":220,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","post_full_size-width":191,"post_full_size-height":220,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","home_baner-width":191,"home_baner-height":220}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u201cA mighty woman with a torch, whose flame \/ Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name \/ Mother of Exiles\u201d","post_main_content_content":"

Readers of Emma Lazarus\u2019 \u201cThe New Colossus\u201d\u2014a celebrated poem written about the Statue of Liberty and ultimately inscribed on its base\u2014may sense that Lazarus gazed upon Lady Liberty and saw none other than Deborah, the judge and prophetess. The poem describes Lady Liberty as, \u201cA mighty woman with a torch, whose flame \/ Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name \/ Mother of Exiles,\u201d recalling Deborah\u2019s biblical profile as a \u201cwoman of <\/span>Lapidot<\/span><\/em> (torches)\u201d (Jud. 4:4), the partner of <\/span>Barak<\/span><\/em> (lightning) (Jud. 4-5), and a \u201cmother in Israel\u201d (Jud. 5:7). Lazarus wrote \u201cThe New Colossus\u201d in 1883, shortly after her well-documented embrace of her Jewish identity and her entry into Jewish communal activism.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the wake of the devastating 1881 pogroms in Russia, Lazarus began to advocate for Eastern European Jewish refugees in the United States, argued for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine before the emergence of Herzlian Zionism, and published such influential Jewish works as <\/span>Songs of a Semite<\/span><\/i> (1882) and <\/span>An Epistle to the Hebrews<\/span><\/i> (1883). This timeline led University of Missouri professor Alexandra Socarides to<\/span> suggest<\/span><\/a> that Lazarus may have written about the United States with Eretz Israel in mind, that she sought to define her American homeland as \u201ca home of exiles, a home not unlike what she had been imagining for Jews in Palestine.\u201d Socarides further notes the Deborah interpretation of the poem, concluding that \u201cLazarus took this most public of opportunities to make the history of the Jewish people central to international politics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since its dedication in 1886, the Statue of Liberty has inspired hundreds of replicas around the world. Unsurprisingly, then, Lady Liberty\/Lazarus\u2019 Deborah eventually made her own triumphant return to the Jewish homeland, and even to the region of Deborah\u2019s victory. One Statue of Liberty<\/span> stands proudly<\/span> in Arraba (above left), an Lower Galilee town, just a 38-kilometer drive from the Mount Tabor battle site and a 36-kilometer drive from Kedesh Naftali, the biblical site rumored to be the burial site of both Deborah and Barak. Another<\/span> stands<\/span> further north in the town of Maghar, 35 kilometers from Mount Tabor and 30 kilometers from Kedesh Naftali (above right). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps unbeknownst to their creators, these far-flung tributes to a symbol of American liberty double as celebrations of a hometown heroine. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Images: Maghar - kitchener.lord\/flickr; Arraba - Almog \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55153,"alt":"","title":"jud4-statues of liberty","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The New Colossus Of Mount Tabor","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u201cA mighty woman with a torch, whose flame \/ Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name \/ Mother of Exiles\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55153,"alt":"","title":"jud4-statues of liberty","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-statues-of-liberty-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"392","name":"Hero","old_id":"792"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"539","name":"Israel","old_id":"939"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"690","name":"Art","old_id":"1090"}]},{"order":7,"id":"55170","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Yael - Femme Fatale (literally) ","post_title":"Yael - Femme Fatale (literally)","slug":"yael-femme-fatale-literally","old_id":"55170","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41525,"post_title":"Sivan Rotholz","slug":"sivan-rotholz","old_id":"41525","first_name":"Sivan ","last_name":"Rotholz","description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. She taught feminist Torah study and creative writing at Brooklyn College, Tel Aviv University, and Temple Israel of the City of New York. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and a Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law and is the Managing Editor of the Saturday Poetry Series on As It Ought To Be. ","short_description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41526,"alt":"","title":"sivan rotholz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","width":320,"height":312,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-300x293.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":312,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":312,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":312,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":312,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":312,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":312}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A different lens through which to view motherhood, birth, and the sources of women\u2019s power","post_main_content_content":"

Judges 4 begins with a prophecy. Deborah, a judge and leader in Israel, foretells that God \u201cwill deliver Sisera,\u201d the enemy commander, \u201cinto the hands of a woman.\u201d That woman is Judaism\u2019s first femme fatale \u2014 what literature has long defined as a seductive woman who brings disaster to a man who becomes involved with her.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sisera was the last man standing after a losing battle against Israelite forces. He flees into the tent of Yael, seeking refuge with her. \u201cCome in, my lord,\u201d she invites him at her doorway, \u201ccome in here, do not be afraid.\u201d She covers the commander with a blanket and gives him milk to drink. Once he is comfortable and cared for, drifting off into peaceful sleep, Yael drives a tent peg through his temple.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When I read the tale of Yael, I am reminded of the ancient Near Eastern goddesses who were responsible not only for life, but also for death and destruction. The scene that unfolds in Yael\u2019s tent serves as a dark inversion of birth, and I am reminded that, in antiquity, every time a woman went to bring life into the world, death, too, hung in the balance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yael welcomes the general into her <\/span>makom<\/span><\/em>, into a space that promises both safety and nourishment. She cares for Sisera as a mother would her infant, swaddling him in blankets, feeding him milk. Gently, Yael soothes the general, meeting his every need. \u201cWhen he was fast asleep from exhaustion,\u201d Judges 4:21 tells us, \u201cshe approached him stealthily and drove the pin through his temple till it went down to the ground. Thus he died.\u201d Only after she has mothered him does Yael deal Sisera a deadly blow. Then, as scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky observes, the \u201cstealthy heroine\u2026 stands with the slain foe between her legs in a grim parody of birth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The text does not tell us why Yael kills Sisera. She is not an Israelite, but takes up their cause and becomes their hero. Soon after, Barak, the Israelite general, encounters Yael while pursuing his enemy Sisera. \u201cCome,\u201d she tells Barak, \u201cI will show you the man you are looking for.\u201d He follows her into her tent only to discover that Deborah\u2019s prophecy has been fulfilled; Sisera has been delivered into the hands of a woman.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Unlike the common trope of today\u2019s femme fatale, Yael neither rejects motherhood nor uses her sexuality to ensnare Sisera. Instead, she uses her maternal instincts and the life-or-death<\/span> power of the birthing chamber to bring Sisera down. Her story offers a different lens through which to view motherhood, birth, and the sources of women\u2019s power.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Yael shows Barak that she killed Sisera. James Tissot, c. 1896-1902 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55171,"alt":"","title":"jud4-yael and barak","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","width":1000,"height":593,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-300x178.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":178,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-768x455.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":455,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":593,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":593,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":593,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":593,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-708x420.jpg","home_baner-width":708,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Yael - Femme Fatale (literally)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A different lens through which to view motherhood, birth, and the sources of women\u2019s power","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55171,"alt":"","title":"jud4-yael and barak","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","width":1000,"height":593,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-300x178.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":178,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-768x455.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":455,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":593,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":593,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":593,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":593,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-yael-and-barak-708x420.jpg","home_baner-width":708,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"373","name":"Literature","old_id":"773"},{"term_id":"392","name":"Hero","old_id":"792"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"}]},{"order":8,"id":"55173","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sisera\u2019s Powerful Army Defeated By Barak\u2019s Outgunned Men ","post_title":"Sisera\u2019s Powerful Army Defeated By Barak\u2019s Outgunned Men","slug":"siseras-powerful-army-defeated-by-baraks-outgunned-men","old_id":"55173","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34245,"post_title":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger","slug":"rachel-sharansky-danziger","old_id":"34245","first_name":"Rachel Sharansky","last_name":"Danziger","description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born writer and speaker who blogs about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. She currently lives in Boston, where she teaches about storytelling in the bible and the subversive depths of Hebrew words.\r\n","short_description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born Boston-based writer and speaker about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34246,"alt":"","title":"RSDanziger","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","width":1171,"height":1769,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":678,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","large-width":678,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","1536x1536-width":1017,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","2048x2048-width":1171,"2048x2048-height":1769,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-794x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How do the Davids of history defeat its Goliaths?","post_main_content_content":"

Sometimes, something interrupts the natural, to-be-expected, course of history.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

George Washington's starving, out-gunned army survives its privations and defeats the British army.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Tiny Israel defeats three armies in six days.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Barak\u2019s ten thousand recruits defeat Sisera\u2019s army, despite the latter\u2019s 900 chariots (chariots, we learned in Judges 2, stopped even the tribe of Judah from conquering the valleys).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How do the Davids of history defeat its Goliaths?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The David-and-Goliath metaphor is particularly apt when discussing Barak's war, where the Canaanite army relied heavily on its metal gear. Years later, Goliath, too, enhanced his physical advantage with similar trappings: he wore a helmet of brass, greaves of brass, a javelin of brass, and \u2013 you guessed it! \u2013 a coat of mail of brass. He completed the ensemble with an iron spear.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

David looked at Goliath, and displayed his typical knack for \u201cenlarging the image, seeing perspectives that a more blinkered view cannot imagine.\u201d (David Wolpe, <\/span>David: The Divided Heart<\/span><\/i>. 13.) He realized that trying to beat Goliath on his own heavy-weight terms was a losing proposition. Instead of making a doomed attempt to overpower the giant in hand-to-hand combat, David stunned him - and all present - by felling Goliath from afar with a stone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

George Washington employed a similar insight in America\u2019s War of Independence. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to defeat the superior British army in an all-out battle, he focused on controlling and protecting his army and the countryside instead. When he finally faced the British in the field, explains historian Joseph Ellis in <\/span>American Creation<\/span><\/i>, they were overstretched and exhausted.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Israel chose the opposite strategy in 1967 \u2013 a quick, decisive engagement \u2013 but for a similar reason: it recognized its inability to outwait the Arab countries in a long and drawn-out war and chose to engage on different terms instead.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like these other disadvantaged armies, Barak pulled the rug from underneath Sisera's feet by switching the terms of engagement. Instead of trying to amass men or weapons for an all-out war in the valley, Barak - as per Deborah\u2019s instructions - gathered a small group of men and kept them on mount Tabor, out of the chariots\u2019 range. Only when the river flooded Jezreel Valley, swamping it with mud and disabling Sisera's chariots, did Barak lead his men into the valley. With the Canaanite chariot riders facing a form of hand-to-hand combat they never prepared for, Barak carried the day. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

But this victory is fleeting: by chapter 6 the Israelites will forget and betray God again, and a new enemy will arise to terrorize Jezreel Valley. In the book of Judges, it is not enough to recognize the best terms of engagement: to succeed over time, the Israelites must first learn to recognize that they owe their victories to God. They must learn to say, like David as he was facing Goliath, \u201cThe LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion\u2026 He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine\u201d (1 Samuel 17:37).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>David and Goliath<\/span><\/em>, Osmar Schindler (c. 1888) \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55174,"alt":"","title":"jud4-goliath","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","width":620,"height":324,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath-300x157.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","medium_large-width":620,"medium_large-height":324,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","large-width":620,"large-height":324,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","1536x1536-width":620,"1536x1536-height":324,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","2048x2048-width":620,"2048x2048-height":324,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","post_full_size-width":620,"post_full_size-height":324,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","home_baner-width":620,"home_baner-height":324}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Sisera\u2019s Powerful Army Defeated By Barak\u2019s Outgunned Men","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How do the Davids of history defeat its Goliaths?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55174,"alt":"","title":"jud4-goliath","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","width":620,"height":324,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath-300x157.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","medium_large-width":620,"medium_large-height":324,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","large-width":620,"large-height":324,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","1536x1536-width":620,"1536x1536-height":324,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","2048x2048-width":620,"2048x2048-height":324,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","post_full_size-width":620,"post_full_size-height":324,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-goliath.jpg","home_baner-width":620,"home_baner-height":324}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"392","name":"Hero","old_id":"792"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"}]},{"order":9,"id":"55430","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Bible On Site: They'll Be Coming Round The Mountain ","post_title":"Bible On Site: They'll Be Coming Round The Mountain","slug":"bible-on-site-theyll-be-coming-round-the-mountain","old_id":"55430","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yQfEgAdZD-I","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible On Site","tile_main_caption":"Judges Chapter 4: They'll Be Coming Round The Mountain","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with AnaRina Heymann and Shawn Zelig Aster","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yQfEgAdZD-I","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":10,"id":"55165","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Deborah, a Paradox: Prophetess, Judge, and General ","post_title":"Deborah, a Paradox: Prophetess, Judge, and General","slug":"deborah-a-paradox-prophetess-judge-and-general","old_id":"55165","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"One of seven prophetesses - and rich too!","post_main_content_content":"

Deborah was paradoxical in several respects. In a strictly patriarchal world, she was a prophetess (<\/span>nevi\u2019ah<\/span><\/em>), a judge (<\/span>shof\u2019tah<\/span><\/em>), and, like the other <\/span>shof\u2019tim<\/span><\/em> (see our comments on chapter two), a military leader. Such exceptionalism invites explanation, and several rabbinic and medieval sources attempt to provide it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Talmud names Deborah among the seven Israelite prophetesses (Megillah 14a) and a Midrash attributes both her prophetic and judicial status to her simultaneous devotion to her husband and to God, demonstrated by her encouraging him to advance his social standing by manufacturing wicks (hence, <\/span>Lapidot<\/span><\/i> v.4) for the lamps in the Tabernacle at Shiloh (Tanna d\u2019Bei Eliyahu 10). Yehudah Halevi\u2014as per his philosophical views\u2014would argue that God can bestow the capacity for prophecy on anyone, women included, while Maimonides would submit that prophecy is a perfection of the intellective and imaginative faculties, of which women, too, are capable. Abrabanel added the observation that anyone who could meet the Maimonidean requirements for prophecy would most assuredly command respect and that accounts for her acceptance as a judge, as well.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Another tradition, embodied in an expansive Aramaic translation<\/span>, attributes to her great wealth, interpreting her \u201cpalm tree\u201d (<\/span>tomer<\/span><\/em>, v.4) as \u201cShe owned palms in Jericho, orchards in Ramah, olives in Beit El, and productive soil in Tur Malka.\u201d A later Midrash takes the \u201cpalm tree\u201d more literally, justifying her service as a judge\u2014in light of the restriction on male-female interactions\u2014by identifying it as a public place where she conducted her court (Yalkut Shim`oni 42). The Zohar amplifies her accomplishments to such an extent that it declares: \u201cTwo women, of the entire world, recited the praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, as no men in the world were ever capable\u201d (3:19). They are Deborah and Hannah (of whom we shall learn more when we reach 1 Samuel).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, an alternative school of thought considers the title <\/span>nevi\u2019ah<\/span><\/em> to mean a prophet\u2019s wife, identifying Deborah as the wife of Barak ben Avinoam (<\/span>barak<\/span><\/em>, lightning, being related, semantically, to <\/span>lapidot<\/span><\/em>, torches), and attributes the manufacture of wicks to her; all considerably more traditionally feminine roles than those delineated above.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Deborah Praises Jael, By Gustave Dor\u00e9, 1865 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55166,"alt":"","title":"jud4-deborah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","width":800,"height":1001,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-768x961.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":961,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":1001,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1001,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1001,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1001,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Deborah, a Paradox: Prophetess, Judge, and General","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"One of seven prophetesses - and rich too!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55166,"alt":"","title":"jud4-deborah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","width":800,"height":1001,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-768x961.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":961,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":1001,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1001,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1001,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1001,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-deborah-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"},{"term_id":"874","name":"Deborah","old_id":"1274"}]},{"order":11,"id":"55190","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Two Jewish Women Warriors ","post_title":"Two Jewish Women Warriors","slug":"two-jewish-women-warriors","old_id":"55190","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Deborah and.... Kahinah?","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter relates the story of Deborah, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel \u2013 one of the seven prophetesses listed in the Talmud (Megillah 14b). Together with Barak and Yael, she is credited with having defeated Yavin, king of Canaan, and his military commander Sisera (Judges, Chapters 4 & 5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Judges Chapter 5 continues with the \u201cSong of Deborah\u201d (verses 2-31), sung by Deborah and Barak, about the defeat of Canaanite adversaries by some of the tribes of Israel. Biblical scholars have generally identified this poem as one of the oldest parts of the Bible, dating back to the 12th century BCE. The \u201cSong of Deborah\u201d concludes: \u201cSo may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength\u201d, and our Chapter ends: \u201cThen the land had peace forty years\u201d (verse 31). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Still, the Rabbinic Sages found some fault with Deborah\u2019s behavior. According to the Talmud (Megillah14) she showed unwarranted haughtiness in summoning the male military commander, Barak, to her (see Judges 4:6). Nevertheless, Deborah has survived as the classic example of a Jewish Woman Warrior, who leads victorious Israelite troops into battle.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A later example of a Jewish Woman Warrior is preserved in the legend of Kahinah, said to have been the Jewish princess of a Berber tribe in the late 7th century CE. She is credited with having led the indigenous Berber resistance to the Arab advance in the Maghreb She thus prevented, at least for a time, this part of North Africa from falling under Muslim domination, significantly delaying the eventual Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. According to one tradition, Kahinah died a warrior\u2019s death at age 127, fighting to the end, sword in hand. Her grave site was named after her, Bir-Kahinah, near ancient Mascula, present-day Khenchela in the Aures Mountains in north-eastern Algeria, still populated mainly by Berbers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to the 14<\/span>th<\/span> century Muslim historian, Ibn-Khaldun, \u201cAl-Kahinah\u201d (\u201cthe Priestess\u201d), whose given name was Diyha, became the Jewish queen of the Berbers. She is described as a sorceress of enormous size with very long hair. Among the astonishing stories about her, she is said to have nursed, along with her own two sons, a former enemy after she took him captive.!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The remarkable story of \u201cAl-Kahinah\u201d is preserved in a broad spectrum of Islamic sources and North African Jewish traditions that differ widely as to her religious identity: Jewish, Christian or a Muslim. In recent times, Kahinah has become a figure of resistance to the paternalism of Islam and a symbol of the struggle for a free Berber homeland.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Israeli folklore, Kahinah is described variously as a typical secular Jewish woman and a Zionist leader who continues to lead the ongoing battle for a Jewish homeland. Recently, two statues have been erected in her memory, one in Paris and one in Khenchela, Algeria, her traditional burial site.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: statue of al-Kahina (Dihya) in Khenchela, NE Algeria \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55191,"alt":"","title":"jud4-kahina","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","width":320,"height":583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina-165x300.jpg","medium-width":165,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":583,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":583,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":583,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":583,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":583,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina-231x420.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Two Jewish Women Warriors","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Deborah and.... Kahinah?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55191,"alt":"","title":"jud4-kahina","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","width":320,"height":583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina-165x300.jpg","medium-width":165,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":583,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":583,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":583,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":583,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":583,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-kahina-231x420.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"875","name":"Muslim","old_id":"1275"}]},{"order":12,"id":"55138","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Deborah's Army (A Bimbam Video) ","post_title":"Deborah's Army (A Bimbam Video)","slug":"deborahs-army-a-bimbam-video","old_id":"55138","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37754,"post_title":"BimBam","slug":"bimbam","old_id":"37754","first_name":"","last_name":"BimBam","description":"BimBam sparks connections to Judaism through digital storytelling for learners of all ages.","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37755,"alt":"","title":"bimbam","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","width":218,"height":217,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","medium-width":218,"medium-height":217,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","medium_large-width":218,"medium_large-height":217,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","large-width":218,"large-height":217,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","1536x1536-width":218,"1536x1536-height":217,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","2048x2048-width":218,"2048x2048-height":217,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","post_full_size-width":218,"post_full_size-height":217,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","home_baner-width":218,"home_baner-height":217}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Prophet Deborah is the only female Judge in the Tanakh. Learn about her courage and prophecy in this video, part of our Judges series and curriculum!\r\nDeborah, one of the most talked about women in the Bible, tells Barak they should take on the Canaanite army. But he worries they don't stand a chance against Canaanite commander Sisera and his modern technology. Deborah assures Barak they've got God on their side. As Deborah prophesied, a woman settles the score with Sisera.\r\nJudge Deborah, a prophet and warrior, came after Shamgar who followed Ehud in the Book of Judges.\r\n","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/myeSLGXHt4k","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Text and art by: Matthue Roth and Sasha Schotzko-Harris","tile_main_caption":"Deborah's Army","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A Bimbam Video","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/myeSLGXHt4k","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"109569","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ju4","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ju4","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-ju4","old_id":"109569","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"4","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Tanakh Podcast","tile_main_caption":"Judges 4: Devorah, Barak, Yael","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The astounding victory of Devorah and Barak against Yavin King of Canaan and his military captain, Sisera. And what about Yael?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":108885,"alt":"","title":"-635baf915f04f--635baf915f050tanakh podcast - Alex Israel.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","width":350,"height":352,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-298x300.jpg","medium-width":298,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","medium_large-width":350,"medium_large-height":352,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","large-width":350,"large-height":352,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":350,"1536x1536-height":352,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":350,"2048x2048-height":352,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","post_full_size-width":350,"post_full_size-height":352,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":352}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/3qXUxlky9a886AiqZs209Y","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":14,"id":"55144","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Prophet-Woman ","post_title":"A Prophet-Woman","slug":"a-prophet-woman","old_id":"55144","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The centrality of women in the story is emphasized from the get-go","post_main_content_content":"

4:4 \u201cAnd Deborah, a prophet-woman, wife of Lappidoth, she it was who judged Israel at that time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The translation mirrors the structure of the Hebrew, which does not say <\/span>nevi\u2019ah<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> (\u201cprophetess\u201d), but <\/span>\u2018ishah nevi\u2019ah<\/span><\/em>. The introduction of the \u201cwoman\u201d component, which is not strictly required by idiomatic usage, highlights the prominence of woman vis-\u00e0-vis man that is evident both in Deborah\u2019s relation to Barak and in the story of Jael and Sisera.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible, <\/span><\/i>vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"A Prophet-Woman","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The centrality of women in the story is emphasized from the get-go","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"54759","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter - Judges 4 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter - Judges 4","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-judges-4","old_id":"54759","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":49542,"post_title":"Ya\u2019akov Trump","slug":"yaakov-trump","old_id":"49542","first_name":"Ya\u2019akov ","last_name":"Trump","description":"Rabbi Ya\u2019akov Trump serves as the Associate Rabbi of the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst. Rabbi Trump has been involved in many community wide projects including being hub coordinator of the Shabbos Project in the Five Towns-Far Rockaway the Five Towns Drug Awareness panel. Rabbi Trump teaches Halacha at the Shulamith High School for girls. He and his wife, Malka, and children live in Lawrence.","short_description":"Rabbi Ya\u2019akov Trump serves as the Associate Rabbi of the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":49543,"alt":"","title":"yaakov trump","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514.jpg","width":1476,"height":1898,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514-233x300.jpg","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514-768x988.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":988,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514-796x1024.jpg","large-width":796,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514.jpg","1536x1536-width":1194,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514.jpg","2048x2048-width":1476,"2048x2048-height":1898,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514-933x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":933,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/yaakov-trump-e1550238540514-327x420.jpg","home_baner-width":327,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Audio","tile_main_caption":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Judges 4","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/trumprabbi\/shoftim-4","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"2","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":16,"id":"54739","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Judges 4 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Judges 4","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-judges-4","old_id":"54739","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. We are assembling a free living library of Jewish texts and their interconnections, in Hebrew and in translation. With these digital texts, we can create new, interactive interfaces for Web, tablet and mobile, allowing more people to engage with the textual treasures of our tradition.","short_description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42230,"alt":"","title":"Sefaria Logo2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cDevora\u201d <\/span><\/a>by Eryn London: Learn more about this prophetess. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cBiblical and Other Sources of the \u2018New Colossus\u2019 by Emma Lazarus\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Michael Howald: Explore the texts that this classic American poem draws from.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Judges 4","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":17,"id":"55155","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Judges 4 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Judges 4","slug":"points-to-ponder-judges-4","old_id":"55155","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"215","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Eshet Lapidot. <\/span><\/i>That is how Deborah is described in verse 4: \u201ca woman of torches.\u201d Is this a characterization of her personality? The power of her prophecy? Or is Lapidot (literally, \u201ctorches\u201d) simply the name of her husband, she is \u201cwife of Lapidot\u201d? See Tikva Frymer-Kensky\u2019s insightful post on this today.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. The moment of\u2026<\/span><\/i>? What was Barak feeling when he discovered the fate of Sisera (v. 22)? Relief at his death? Disappointment or even humiliation that it hadn\u2019t been him, but a woman in a tent? Amazement at the fulfillment of Deborah\u2019s prophecy (v 9)?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. So who was the savior? <\/span><\/i>Was it Deborah? Barak? Yael? God? Other? All of the above?<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Judges 4","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"215","date":"20260625","wall_id":"215"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/54728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}