Devorah as Prophetess, Judge and Mother:

A Woman's Innate Ability to Inspire

Part 1 of 2

The story of Devorah appears in The Book of Judges (4:1 - 5:31). Devorah becomes Judge at a time when the Jewish nation is experiencing a spiritual and moral ebb. This state of affairs is summarized in the Artscroll Tanach introduction to the Book of Judges:

"With the death of Joshua, the Jewish nation entered a new era. No longer was there a single national leader, a virtual king of the nation, as Moses and Joshua had been. True, there were courts in every town and city, as commanded by the Torah, so that there would be a system of justice, but there was no formally constituted national leader... As the Book of Judges notes all too sadly, "...In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was proper in his own eyes" (17:6 & 21:25). There were episodes of extreme sinfulness that caused God to remove His protective providence from Israel, and foreign oppressors would exercise predatory control over parts of the country. Nevertheless, the masses of the people never lost their faith in God and their basic allegiance to Torah. 

Checking Your Attitude

By Jim Burns

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

A confederate soldier in the midst of some very trying circumstances wrote the words below. I don't know who he was or where he learned this incredible principle of life, but I offer it to you today as one of the secrets of a fulfilled life. Personally, I read this poem often, and I call it my attitude check.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy. I was given poverty that I might be wise.

Why Childfree Couples Have It All

Laura Carroll

Author and Communications 

Consultant

Keli Goff hits the nail on the head in her post "Why Women Shouldn't Want To Have it All" when she makes the point that for all the solutions Anne-Marie Slaughter lays out as necessary for more women to be able to "have it all," "she completely omits one of the most obvious: the need to change the entire conversation about how women define success, from a one-size fits all model that includes marriage, motherhood and career into a find-what-works-for-you model."

Why is parenthood always in the work-life equation? Because we assume that at one point or another, our personal lives will involve raising children. And we make this assumption because for generations, we've been taught to believe that parenthood is the ultimate path to fulfillment in life. We may have successful careers and do many other things in life, but becoming a mother and father is what's going to make life truly worthwhile.

The key phrase here is what we "have been taught to believe" about parenthood. To understand how we've come to believe what we do about parenthood we have to go back in time. Throughout history, valuing fertility was necessary to ensure survival. Leaders encouraged, even mandated population growth to offset population losses due to infant mortality, war and disease. The larger a society's population, the more it could expand and gain power.