The Blogs: Cori Bush, The Jewish Lobby and This Week’s Torah Portion

This week Cori Bush lost her primary and bitterly complained that she was unfairly unseated by OUTSIDE her district, “Jewish money”. She maintained that this is a violation of democracy. This week’s Torah portion projects a different narrative.

12 spies were sent out to scout out the land of Israel, in preparation for the Jewish people to enter their homeland promised to them by G-d. Upon their return, Moses complained about the spies he dispatched to scout out the land of Israel, as 10 out of 12 of them returned with a negative report about the land of Israel.

But what did these 10 spies actually do wrong? They had a mission and they simply reported back to the Jewish people that the land is too difficult to conquer.

Chassidic philosophy explains the spiritual meaning behind their reasoning. The spies loved life in the wilderness. Their materialistic needs were all supplied by G-d. Food descended from heaven in the form of manna, water came through the Well of Miriam and the Clouds of Glory shielded their very existence. They didn’t want to give up the spiritual ecstasy of wandering in the desert for anything else.

Their true intentions were to enjoy their spirituality in the desert, so they sabotaged the Jewish people’s proposed hard, physical conquest of Israel because it would be too much of a strain on their esoteric lives. The error of the 10 spies was choosing their spirituel pursuits over G-d’s intention when he created this world- for us live in this physical world to make it a dwelling place for the divine. The spies misrepresented their job and used it as a weapon to protect their personal aspirations.

If Cori would truly remain a loyal representative of Missouri, who cares deeply for the people she represents, then her claims of losing what she is deserving of are indeed correct— but instead Cori chose to become the representative of Gaza, and her own self interests – that have nothing to do with why she was elected.

Once Cori Bush muddled her elected duties with her own beliefs that are disconnected from the people of Missouri that she was elected to care for, then a just response beyond her constituents was set into motion.

Cori Bush, like the spies of old should not be surprised that when you are chosen to represent the people, personal motivations should not be pursued.

This weeks Torah portion teaches us that the making of a true leader is to be driven by and for the people- completely.

Ultimately, the Jewish people entered the promised land of Israel, with the schemes of the 10 spies having absolutely no relevance. The very same applies for the Jewish people now. No leader in the world can dictate whether or not we have a right to our G-d given inheritance.

And as always, G-d’s watchful eye is constantly protecting and shielding us from all negativity.

Truth will always prevail.

Am Yisrael Chai!