How Service to Torah Brought Barak and the Tribes Their Victory

Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 42:12

"She sent and summoned Barak" (Judges 4:6). What was Barak's standing alongside Deborah? They said: Barak served the elders all the days of Joshua, and continued serving them after Joshua's death; therefore they brought him and set him beside Deborah. By what means does the Holy One, blessed be He, save Israel? By people who rise early and stay late at the house of prayer and the house of study, and who occupy themselves with Torah every single day continually. And what was the standing of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, that so great a deliverance came through them? They said: Naphtali served our father Jacob, and Zebulun served Issachar and became a host providing for him. And because Barak trusted in the God of Israel and believed in Deborah's prophecy, she gave him a share in the song, as it is said, "Then sang Deborah and Barak" (Judges 5:1). And what was the standing of Jael, that so great a deliverance came through her? They said: she was a worthy woman who did the will of her husband. From here they said: there is no worthy woman among women except a woman who does the will of her husband.

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