asked a woman to lead him into battle, which is why he didn't get credit for the victory).  I’ve also been told Deborah wasn’t a “real” judge like all the other men who received that title; that she wasn’t actually leading, that she was only leading “privately,” that she was deferring to Barak instead of exercising authority, that her story could only affirm the necessity of male leadership.   In fact, multiple commentaries and Hebrew scholars that I read affirmed that this little, 2/

Thank you for sharing this. I had heard the "women are second/last choice" narrative all my life, and this is so refreshing.