One of the laws of this parshah consisted in the cohen throwing the ashes of a red cow on people in a state of impurity. Surprisingly, they were purified, but the cohen remained impure! Within the precepts of the Torah, we find “statutes” (such as that of the red cow), which at first glance we define as “commandments of obedience”, which, although apparently have no logic (as we find in not killing or not stealing), we must fulfill them because that is what God commanded. Since this concept may be uncomfortable for us, I would like to exemplify it so that we can understand it better. A sick man visited his doctor because he had a sore throat. The latter prescribed a series of medications such as honey lozenges, diclonin and phenol. The patient understands that the honey lozenges are good for his throat, but he has never heard of the rest of the remedies. Can you imagine what would happen if he reproaches the doctor: I will not take the rest of the medicines because I do not know them! Surely the doctor will answer: How naïve you are! Did you study medicine for 7 years and know all the remedies? Many times we do not find the meaning of some precepts, without a doubt we must investigate the meaning, but the most important thing is to focus on who is behind them, who gave us the “recipe” for us to have a healthy and full life.
George Deek is an Arab-Israeli diplomat. In 2018, Deek was appointed Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan. He is the first Israeli Arab Christian to become an ambassador. Deek grew up in an Eastern Orthodox Christian family in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, in a building where the other tenants included Muslims, Catholics, Jews and a Catholic priest of Jewish ancestry.[2][3] His father, who worked as a tax advisor,[3] was one of the leaders of the Christian community in Jaffa who served as chairman of the Orthodox Association, and was considered a well-known and popular figure in the city until in 2015 a square was inaugurated in his memory in Jaffa in the presence of Mayor Ron Huldai.[4] According to Deek, his grandparents fled to Lebanon for safety when the 1947–1949 Palestine war, having been told that the Jews would slaughter them if they remained in their homes, but expecting to return home once Arab armies defeated the Jews.[3] According to Deek, when the war ended, his grandparents felt that they had been “deceived”, and decided to return illegally to their home in Jaffa rather than remaining in Lebanon as refugees. Since reentering the country was illegal, Deek’s grandfather, an electrician, was arrested and jailed.
