This week’s Haftarah is distinguished by being the longest Haftarah of the year. It has more verses than the famous Haftarah of the entire Book of Jonah which we read during Minchah on Yom Kippur. It consists of two separate accounts of the war in which Israel won a decisive victory over the Canaanites, during the period of the Judges, in the 11th century BCE. It was the last war against the Canaanites.
These two accounts form the contents of two successive chapters in the Book of Judges. In Chapter 4 we find the account in prose. In chapter 5 we find the poetic account, which is known, in Hebrew, as SHIRAT D’VORAH, the song of D’vorah. This song is one of the most famous passages in the Bible. When I was a child, in Israel, we were expected to learn it off by heart and I remember it to this day. D’vorah was the most prominent of the seven prophetesses, who arose amongst our people, during the biblical period. She was the inspiration behind the Israelite victory in this war.
In order to impress upon us the unity of the Bible, our rabbis instituted the custom of chanting chapters from the prophets every Shabbat morning after the reading of the Torah. Additionally, our rabbis wanted to reinforce the theme of the Sidra of the week, by reading about similar events that took place in later biblical times.
There are two main factors that link this Haftarah with the Sidra of Beshalach. The first is that the song of D’vorah matches The Song of The Sea in its superb beauty. The second factor is that, like the Sidra, it also describes a magnificent Israelite victory over its enemies.
The commander in chief of the Israelite army was Barak son of Avino’am. The Canaanite army was led by Sisera, who was the commander of the Army of Yavin, the King of Chazor. Chazor was, in all probability, the capital city of all the numerous Canaanite kingdoms which existed in the Holy Land during that period. A generation earlier, Joshua had set that city on fire and burnt it. However, it was rebuilt relatively quickly.
D’vorah was a great figure in ancient Israel. Judges Chapter 4, verse 4 calls her ESHET LAPIDOT. Lapidot is an unusual name. It is either the name of the D’vorah’s husband or the name of the place where she lived. However, some commentators prefer to regard it as a title. They explain it on the basis of the Hebrew word LAPID, which means a fiery torch. In this analysis, D’vorah was blessed with a holy spirit which burnt within her like a torch of fire.
The judges who flourished during the biblical era known as the Period of the Judges rose to prominence because they were military commanders who were able to defeat Israel’s enemies. On the other hand, D’vorah rose to prominence as a prophetess and a judge. In this she was unique. We are told that she used to hold her court sessions under a palm tree. There she sat and waited for her fellow Israelites to come and settle their disputes under her jurisdiction. As a prophetess, she transmitted the divine message to Barak son of Avino’am to go out and wage war against Sisera.
Barak was hesitant to follow this prophecy. The Israelite tribes were not yet united. They could not be relied upon to come to each other’s assistance. Secondly, the Canaanites were equipped with 900 chariots of iron. From a military point of view, they were much stronger than Israel. Israel did not possess any chariots at all. They fought with infantry soldiers only.
In addition to the two main points of contact with the Sidra, the reference to the Canaanite chariots reminds us of Pharaoh’s chariots with which he was able to pursue the Israelites with great speed as they were fleeing from Egypt. Those chariots caused terrible panic and fear amongst the Israelites. The same happened in the war against the Canaanites during the period of D’vorah. Before the war started, the Israelites were stricken with great fear of the Canaanites. The Canaanites terrorised and oppressed them over a period of 20 years.
The song opens by saying that it was sung by the D’vorah and Barak on the day of the victory. It was a spontaneous response- a song of thanksgiving and praise to the Almighty for the victory. It emphasised God’s help, who fought against the enemy through the forces of nature. In chapter 5, verse 21, we have another striking resemblance to the story in the Sidra. The song describes how the Canaanites were drowned in the waters of the Kishon river, as they were trying to flee from the Israelite attack. The waters swept them away. In the corresponding prosaic account in chapter 4 verse 15, we are told that the commander of the Canaanite army, Sisera, had to come off his chariot and flee on foot, because the river overflowed its banks and made the terrain impassable for the chariots. The Bible uses the verb VAYAHOM, to describe the storm as God’s intervention in the war. The verb VAYAHOM means that God threw them into terrible panic. The Torah uses the same Hebrew verb to describe God’s intervention at the Sea of Reeds. The Egyptians were also thrown into complete confusion when their chariots came to a halt in their pursuit after the Israelites. Their chariots could not move forward, because they became stuck in the mud.
The Song of the D’vorah is written in a very personal style. In it she mentions herself, the actions that she took, her part in the war and her calls to all the tribes to come and help in the war effort. She praises the tribes that came to assist and condemns the tribes that refused to come.
After this war there was peace in the land of Israel for 40 years. Let us hope that there will be an everlasting peace in the State of Israel in the near future.