The Triumph of Deborah
By Eva Etzioni- Halevy
Three women so vibrant, so different, each remarkable in her own way, yet all the same. Each of these women had battles to fight, sorrows to overcome and fears that needed to be allayed and comforted. In our time, today, we would expect our spouses and family members to create the support we need in order to overcome the fear of loss, assist in fighting our battles and listening to us when we feel vulnerable and unsure of where we are going and how to get there.
In the Triumph of Deborah, our author weaves a web of intrigue, deceit, heartache and courage that follows each of the three amazing women intertwined in this novel of hope and understanding between the Israelites and the Canaanites.
Deborah faced with an incredible task that my women would falter at and might declare defeat, has to find someone to help fight and lead Israel’s army and come back victorious. Deborah is a the leader of her people and stands as their judge and jury when major decisions that we would face in our courts today come before her. Not only that, she has a special gift, that of being able to see visions of what will happen in the future in order to guide the present. She has been given the divine gift of prophecy. Endowed this gift by God, it is her position and her burden to find someone to lead the people and stop the increasing hardships and deaths at the hand of Jabin and Sisra of Canaan.
Asherah is our second woman of courage and interest. The closely protected princes and daughter of King Jabin, she awaits the fate of her husband, Sisra who was sent to lead her people in battle against the Israelis. Beautiful, courageous and yet devious and smart enough to create and orchestrate situations whose outcome would be to her advantage; she captures the heart and soul of Sisra and many others along the way. But, is she truly happy and will she when all is said and done come out the victor?
Finally, we have Nogah, whose mother is a maid and slave in King Jabin’s palace and to King Jabin himself, who did not know that she was his daughter. Nogah was beautiful in her own right. While her sister would pray to idols and gold statues, she prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel. Asherah prayed for a victory for the Canaanites, and Nogah, as Deborah, the Israelis.
Enter in Barak, the man Deborah has chosen to lead the Israeli army but at what price. Women during this time were supposed to be subservient to their husbands and follow and listen to their every desire. Not, our Deborah. She stands alone and has the courage and fortitude to put her people first at any cost to herself, including losing the man who claimed he cared about her and more. Barak, although agreeing to lead the Israeli army to victory imposed on Deborah a condition that would change her standing with her husband and her life forever.
With an Israeli victory, Deborah now faces the fact that Barak has not only won but will once again demand payment from her for going to battle. Not only that, he has taken many of the Canaanite women as his maids, slaves and one in particular he decided to covet as his wife. Along with these slaves, he will meet Nogah, and the conflicts that he faces within himself will eventually tear him and many others apart.
One man who changed the lives of three women in three different ways. Deborah whose feelings for Barak grew more intense as the days past since their first encounter. Asherah, who did not want any part of him and wanted to be released and return to her people, Nogah, his maid, who he used for his own lust and purpose, until he realized who and what he really wanted. But, was it too late?
Throughout the novel the author relates to the reader the differences in traditions and laws of both the Israeli people and the Canaanites. allowed to take other women for their own pleasure. But, when Deborah’s husband feels that her life as the leader and judge hamper their relationship and he feels she has betrayed their marriage, he no longer wants her in his life and their marriage is dissolved when he hands her the divorce book. Surprisingly, divorce was allowed and indicated even then that people failed to live up the will of God. Permitting them to divorce did not necessarily bring his approval or blessing. However, Deborah did not fight or argue with Lapidoth, her husband when presented with the divorce book because she had a nation to lead and was still unsure of where her heart belonged.
Asherah, although married to Barak and now his wife, would not succumb willingly succumb to his advances and the lengths that she would go to in order to return home would astound and surprise the reader. She was strong-willed and determined to have her way. But, does she really win in the end?
Nogah, the woman that Barak finally realizes is the one person who he really loves and cares for. But, she is truly to be admired. Not allowing herself to remain as one of many in his life, she decides to live with her mother and her new husband and hopefully create a better life for herself.
However, what we want and what we often feel are two different things. Fighting against her thoughts and feelings for Barak, she loses interest in anyone else, and stands strong against his demands and his pleading to come back to him.
All three women had stood by their own convictions and would not bend. Deborah, although she loved Barak, realized that his heart and soul lied with Nogah. Asherah only wanted to find a life with her brother-in-law, living among her people. Deborah struggled to rebuild her country, her people’s spirit and sacrificed more than any woman today would in order to achieve her goals.
A novel filled with the history of two nations and how one woman wanted to achieve the impossible: Peace between the Israel’s and Canaanites. Does she and did she succeed? You need to read this book about three amazing women. You will come to admire and love them as individuals who did not stop until they achieved what they set out to do.
Deborah was a remarkable and quite impressive woman whose boundless energies and ability to see and do what needed to be done to bring peace was truly impressive. Her willingness to forego her own happiness and feelings for Barak and tell him where to find the woman he truly loved and cared for far surpasses anything that anyone would do today. Few women would give up the man they cherished and loved in order to make another happy. Ashram proved herself to be worth of Nogah’s love, but it took time.
Blending and intertwining these three women, their husbands and their lives the author creates a story so heartfelt, and amazing that you do not want the story to end. Learning about the Torah and loving it when Deborah said she would not gossip about Nogah and their bonding as friends was truly great. Wouldn’t it be great to have her as a mediator and Prime Minister of Israel to help negotiate peace in the Middle East and other places too.
This is more than a five star book. It is an inspiration to all women to let them know that even back in Biblical times there were women like Deborah, Asherah and Nogah who would not take a backseat to any man.
I am excited that Eva is going to be a guest author on my Book Club Show on May 19th 1.P.M. Eastern on Blog Talk Radio.
Fran Lewis: Reviewer: author of the Bertha Series of Books and Memories are Precious my Alzheimer’s book.
It is an honor to have her on my show and to review her book.
