Take the Deborah Quiz

Yes, also Miriam is among the 7 prophetesses but this test is only about Devorah one of the 7 ones. Reply

plus the name Deborah means a bee, and bees make honey, making you sweet as honey Reply

I think it is with her in mind that the Talmudic Sages remarked how "Where there is no man, strive to be a man." One application of this is that while normally women do not take the leadership role of an entire nation, that in Deborah's case it was accepted because there was no good man to fill that role at the time Reply

Thank you for your response, Raymond. However, unlike the Sages, I do not believe Deborah had to “ strive to be a man” in order to take on a leadership role. The fact that she spoke to the people while sitting in public under a date tree illustrates that she was very aware of her femininity.

Personally, I think that if they had cared to look, they would have found more women throughout Jewish history that could’ve taken on that role. Unfortunately, due to the gender lines drawn within the religion, there is so much focus on what is a male role and what is a female role that often times persons of either gender are overlooked for what is considered a non-traditional role.I know that’s not a popular interpretation for those who were raised without the opportunity to grow outside of the positions in which their genders placed them. However, I have always looked through a more multifaceted lens. Reply

I think it is worth recalling what a key role that women played throughout the Torah. Sarah, for example, had enormous influence over the fate of her husband's first son Ishmael. Lavan's daughters did what was needed to create the nation of Moab, from whom came Ruth, ancestor of the future Messiah. Rebecca knew who really deserved to get her husband's blessing, and so she orchestrated that whole situation in which Isaac was tricked into blessing Jacob instead of Eisav. Rachel switched places with Leah to save her sister Leah from shame. Yocheved along with Batya saved the life of baby Moses, who went on to being indispenable in leading the Jews out of Egyptian slavery and to Mount Sinai. Miriam's special presence merited the Jewish people having enough water to drink in the Sinai Desert. And so on. So Jewish women in Jewish tradition are not shrinking wallflowers They play very key roles in our collective Jewish history, mostly from behind the scenes Reply

If I may add a word or two to this matter: I think it is mainly a matter of spirit - in what spirit these women operate. This is vital, so it's not a matter of gender but of spirit. Reply

Sarah is said to have greater prophetic powers than her husband Abraham Reply

Yes, indeed! We see Hashem tells Avraham, "Whatever Sarah says to you, hearken to her voice," since she exceeded Avraham in her prophetic powers! Reply

Can you explain that to me, how Sarah exceeded Avraham in her prophetic powers?? Reply

Regretfully, I cannot. It is far beyond the scope of my qualifications to attempt an explanation as to the excess of prophetic powers, Sarah's or otherwise. To do so would be a gamble on my intellectual integrity, something which, as a professor, I can hardly hazard. Reply

Well one possible response to Erika's question is that in Jewish thought, women are considered naturally more spiritual than men. Plus, since when G-d created the universe He did so from simples to most complex, well, women were His very last creation and are therefore held to be the highest form of all that G-d has created. And so as great as Abraham was, Sarah is said to be even greater, especially when it comes to things like prophecy or other ways one expresses one's intuition Reply

Thank you, Raymond, that helps a lot
blessings
Erika Reply

Also, consider that in Sarah's case, she had the sense to remove Hagar and Ishmael from Abraham's home, something that Abraham would have never done on his own. I realize that this action can be seen as quite controversial, but for one, it was met with G-d's Approval, and for another, we are talking about the very first Jews here. It was imperative that their home be as spiritually pure as possible. Nowadays we can probably be more lenient about such matters, but that is partially because we have the advantage of several thousand years of Jewish tradition to rest on, something our forefathers and mothers did not yet have Reply

totally awesome Reply