Over the past years, we have emphasized the close connection between the story of kriyat Yam Suf, the splitting of the Sea of Reeds that we read in the parsha, to the story of Devorah and Barak that we read in the haftarah this week. In both readings, Israel defeats her enemy and follows the victory with a song of praise to Hashem. In both readings, the enemy forces are drowned—the Egyptians in the rushing sea waters and the Canaanites in the overflowing Kishon stream. The enemy chariot forces, which Israel lacked in both battles, were caught in the mud of the sea bed, and in the haftarah, in the mire of the river banks. Both enemy forces were thrown into a panic, described in both places by the unusual term, “vayahom.” And, perhaps most interesting, in both stories there was but one survivor from the enemy camp, and the Tanach, once again, uses almost the precise phrase in both cases to describe that fact, “lo nishar (bahem) ad echad.” Clearly, we are being encouraged to see the connection and the similarities between these two events, as our rabbis in Masechet Pesachim (118a) point out.
But, as so often in the past studies of the haftarah, there is also much to learn from the dissimilarities, the contrast between these two stories. In the Torah’s account of yetziat Mitzrayim and kri’at Yam Suf, Moshe Rabbeinu is clearly the central figure, who by bringing down Hashem’s punishments, defeats the enemy. His sister, Miriam the neviah, has nothing to do with the plagues or the threatened military confrontation. Rather, she, as a prophetess, inspires the women to join her in dancing and in celebrating Hashem’s victory.
But when we take a close look at the story of Devorah, we realize that there is a significant difference between the two occurrences, and we will even uncover a rather unique event in Biblical history. Devorah was an exceptional figure. Firstly, she was the only female to serve as the leader of the Israelites throughout the period of the “shoftim,” the judges. Secondly, she was the only prophetess or prophet to serve as a shofet(et) in the entire Sefer Shoftim. Thirdly, she did not limit her activities to the spiritual realm alone, for uniquely, Devorah was also a “warrior.” When she delivered Hashem’s charge to her general Barak, he refused to fulfill God’s command to initiate a battle against the enemy unless she accompanied him into battle. In an ancient society, where women never served in the military, the arrival of Devorah to the battlefield must have certainly caused some curiosity.
And yet, despite the unheard of idea that a woman would go to war, Devorah did so not as a fighter, but as a leader and a prophetess. And, just as we read at the closing of this week’s parsha, that Moshe the navi stood atop a hill with his hands raised in order to encourage the Israelites in their war against Amalek, Devorah the neviah also went to the battlefield as the spiritual leader, to encourage the Israelites in their war against the Canaanites, symbolizing, as she did, Hashem’s presence in their midst.
How fitting, therefore, that she, together with her general, lead the song of victory for Bnei Yisrael. It was, after all, essential that the people recognize that their unexpected victory over the vastly more powerful enemy was not a simple military triumph but one wrought by God. This was a post-victory message so important to a generation who, too often, looked to foreign “gods” for help.
And a message so important for today as well.
By Rabbi Neil N. Winkler
