In this week’s Parashah, God orders Moshe before his death to take revenge on the people of Midian for inciting Am Israel to engage in idolatry and promiscuity, which led to the death of 24,000 members of Am Israel. The Midianim and their cities were destroyed. Subsequently, God orders Moshe to divide the spoils, one half for the soldiers and the other for Am Israel. But surprisingly, the soldiers express to Moses their desire to donate the gold and silver jewelry as a sign of gratitude to God for saving them during the war. But if God had commanded them to fight, it was obvious that He would protect them, why then should they thank Him? It is known that the victories of all the wars of Am Israel depended on the spiritual level in which they were. In fact, if any soldier felt insecure because of his sins, he was exempted from going to fight. The Midianites had caused great spiritual damage leaving their sinful mark in Bnei Israel, which could have culminated with the defeat in the war. The thanksgiving to God was for keeping them spiritually stable before the war. Our lives are a permanent war, against our ego, envy, anger, sadness. To win the battle, it is essential to connect whith our Divine compass.
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.
