15 Tishrei – Yahrzeit of Deborah the Prophetess
15 Tishrei – Yahrzeit of Deborah the Prophetess
The prophetess Deborah—Deborah the Prophetess—was the fourth judge of the Jewish people during the era of the Judges. She was descended from the tribe of Naphtali. She was also called “a mother in Israel” (Judges 5:7).
Her husband, Barak ben Avinoam, was a G-d-fearing man. Deborah made wicks for the Menorah in the Mishkan, and Barak brought them to Shilo, where the Mishkan was located at that time and where Pinchas ben Elazar served as High Priest.
Barak was called Lapidot—from the word “lapid” (torch). The words “barak” (lightning) and “lapid” (flame) are synonyms.
Deborah herself was called “eshet Lapidot,” meaning “the wife of the torch-bearer” (Yalkut Shimoni, Judges 42:4).
The Midrash “Tanna Devei Eliyahu” (The Teaching of the House of Elijah) answers the question of what was so special about this woman that she became both a judge and a prophet:
“I call Heaven and earth to bear witness: whether a person is an Israelite or a non-Jew, whether male or female, whether slave or maidservant—in accordance with his or her deeds, so does the Spirit of G-d rest upon that person.”
This testimony teaches that the prophetic spirit rests upon a person regardless of age, gender, social status, nationality, and so forth.
The fifth verse says of Deborah: “she sits under the palm tree.” It is related that she sat beneath “Deborah’s palm tree,” in the mountains of Ephraim, between Ramah and Beit El, and the Jews came to her for judgment.
The Midrash explains that because she was a woman, she could not receive men in an enclosed place, as this would cast suspicion upon her, and such conduct was improper. Deborah was a woman of great means, which is one of the qualities required for a person to become a prophet.
The Jezreel Valley was fertile land and was constantly attacked by the Canaanite tribes.
Deborah received a revelation from the Almighty to save the people from the yoke of the Canaanites through Barak, and summoned him: “And she sent and summoned Barak the son of Avinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him: Has not the L-rd, the G-d of Israel, commanded: Go and gather on Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the children of Naphtali and from the children of Zebulun. And I will draw to you, to the brook Kishon, Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into your hand.”
Barak answered Deborah: “If you go with me, I will go; but if you do not go with me, I will not go.” Of course, he did not doubt the prophecy conveyed by Deborah. But he knew well that the Jews were frightened; they feared Sisera’s warriors and might not follow him, because they would not believe his words. If they saw that the prophetess who had conveyed the words of the G-d of Israel was also with them, they would believe in victory.
Jabin’s army, commanded by Sisera, included 900 iron chariots—thanks to them, Jabin “cruelly oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years.” (Judges 4:3) The Jewish army took up position on Mount Tabor; Sisera, at the head of the chariots and infantry, advanced toward the valley of the Kishon River. Although the enemy army was a considerable distance away—about 25 km—Deborah ordered Barak to attack the Canaanites immediately, trusting that the overflowing Kishon would impede the chariots. The battle took place at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo (Judges 5:19), and her calculation proved correct: Sisera’s chariots became mired in the muddy ground, and the Canaanite army was completely defeated. Sisera himself fled the battlefield, abandoning his chariot. Pursued by the Israelites, he tried to hide in the tent of Heber the Kenite. Heber’s wife, Yael, a descendant of Yitro, offered Sisera her “hospitality,” then killed him with a tent peg and a mallet.
In the “Song of Deborah,” Deborah praises Yael: “May she be blessed above women in the tent.” The Midrash says that she is praised above the woman in the tent. “The women in the tent” are Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. Yael is praised even more highly because they gave birth to and established this nation, whereas she saved it from its enemies.
Rabbi Chaim Vital taught in “Etz Chaim,” may the memory of the righteous be a blessing, that the prophetess Deborah sat beneath a palm tree, and the secret of the palm tree is “צדיק כתמריפרח” (“The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree”). “Tamar” has a gematria of 640, equal to the gematria of “Shemesh” (sun)—the prophetess Deborah was like the shining sun for the people of Israel. David HaMelech descended from Deborah’s root, because he sang just as she did.
Rabbi Menachem Azariah MiPano in “Sefer Gilgulei Neshamot” explains:
“Deborah is the gilgul of Tamar, and the tikkun consists in the fact that now Deborah must be outside (unlike Tamar, who was in a place of harlots).”
Tzipporah, the wife of Moshe Rabbeinu, was also reincarnated as Deborah. When Am Yisrael sang to Hashem “Shirat HaYam,” Tzipporah was not with them—she was in Midian.
In the merit of circumcising her son—“ותקח צפרה צר ותכרת [את] ערלת בנה”—Tzipporah, embodied in Deborah, merited singing the “Song of Deborah” through Ruach HaKodesh. The words “בפרע פרעות” in Deborah’s song allude to the Brit Milah of the son of Tzipporah and Moshe Rabbeinu.
Tzipporah, Tamar, and Deborah are connected with Mashiach
Tzipporah was the wife of the first redeemer—Moshe Rabbeinu.
Tamar and Judah are the root of David HaMelech (Mashiach ben David).
Deborah’s song is a song about the final Redemption and Mashiach.
The secret of the name Deborah lies in its root—DaVaR (word) —DiBur (speech) (from Malchut). When speech rises to the level of song, it is elevated through the musical notes of the melody (Taamei HaMikra), which emerge from a higher level.
Dibur (speech) is also the secret of Judah—the power he possesses derives from his speech. The name Deborah דבורה contains the word בור (pit), into which Joseph HaTzadik was thrown on Judah’s advice, and this song is the key to the Geulah.
Deborah – Joseph – David—their gematria is 387.
בשכינה– BeShechinah—also has a gematria of 387.
Wicks
Deborah made wicks for the Menorah in the Mishkan at Shilo, and she always made the wicks thicker so that the Menorah would give more light. “Guf” (the physical body) is called a wick, פתילה, while the “soul” is called light, נר. The word for wick, פתילה, contains the same letters as the word for prayer, תפילה. Deborah’s song is a Prayer of Thanksgiving.
The tikkun of the final generation is Yesod HaKadosh (the Tikkun of the Covenant), and Deborah joins and purifies the damaged klippah of the Covenant through her song. Through the words of the “Song of Deborah,” she repairs the damage to the Covenant and hastens the arrival of Mashiach.
How?
Deborah sits beneath the palm tree and, through Ruach HaKodesh, tells her husband Barak ben Avinoam to summon two tribes, Naphtali and Zebulun, with 10,000 men, to fight Sisera and his 900 iron chariots.
The 900 iron chariots—תשע מאות רכב—form the acronym Tamar.
The secret of the 10,000 men commanded by Deborah corresponds to the “Tikkun HaKlali”—the ten Psalms. The holy Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that a person who understands this greatest remez and recites the “Tikkun HaKlali” at the Tzion of Deborah HaNeviah, and then recites her song with praise and gratitude to Hashem, will gain very much.
Deborah calls upon her husband Barak ben Avinoam to repair Yesod Brit HaKodesh. Barak descended from the tribe of Naphtali, the son of Yaakov Avinu.
Naphtali comes from the words—נפלת לי—“you have fallen before me” —the secret of the tikkun for those who have spilled seed in vain.
Zebulun ben Leah Imeinu—from the words—זרע לבטלה—(spilled seed).
נַחַל קִישֹׁון גְּרָפָם נַחַל קְדוּמִים נַחַל קִישֹׁון תִּדְרְכִי נַפְשִׁי עֹז:
“The Kishon River swept them away, that ancient river, the Kishon River.”
“Nahal Kishon” (the Kishon River) is the secret of Tikkun HaBrit.
Eliyahu HaNavi brought the Jews to Mount Carmel, while Nahal Kishon is the point of division. The word Kishon contains the letters of the word “Nishuk” (kiss). In this context, a kiss of Kedushah (holiness).
In the words of “Deborah’s Song”—ביום ההוא—“on that day,” there is a prophecy connected not only with individual redemption, but also with the global Redemption—with the coming of Mashiach:
ותשר דבורה וברק בן אבינעם ביום ההוא לאמר
“And Deborah and Barak, son of Avinoam, sang on that day the following words”;
והיה יהוה למלך, על-כל-הארץ; ביום ההוא, יהיה יהוה אחד — ושמו אחד
“And the L-rd shall be King over the entire earth: on that day there shall be one L-rd, and His Name one.”
This song is like an entrance ticket for Mashiach ben Yosef to enter the Heichal היכל (Sanctuary) of Mashiach and begin the process of purification for the Kingdom of Hashem.
(from the website “Song of Deborah” http://shiratdevorah.blogspot.com/p/song-of-devorah.html)
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Tags: Yahrzeit, Awaiting Mashiach, "Sefer Dvora" by Rabbi Moshe David Valle, Deborah the Prophetess, Devorah the Prophetess, 15 Tishrei
