Selfish? Moi?

It's amazing what happens when I have life issues. All of my brain's various levels of operation, conscious and subconscious, become dedicated to solving the issues. How do I fix my car? How do I recover from this disease? How do I get a new apartment? And how do I make a trip back to America?

All "big picture" brain functions, like spiritual growth and national or political thought, are at risk of ceasing. I've even noticed, with this blog, that I've stopped posting Eretz Israel issues and have just been posting "me" posts. So here goes.

For political thought:

All politicians are corrupt, because Israel's founding fathers established a system on the Bolshevik model, based on the idea that society needs a powerful tyrant to bring it to Utopia, rather than the American ideal that power corrupts, so all power must be limited and controlled. I don't like the system where supreme court judges in Israel choose the next supreme court judges, so there is no originality or democratic charachter to the court system, which now rules over all branches of government and the military as well. I hate the fact that there is no protection of free speech in Israel. There is no "first ammendment," to the constitution because Israel has no constitution to ammend. Which is another problem.

Whew, okay!

Now, for some photography from Eretz Israel. Here are some shots I took in Shiloh, home of the mishkan, the portable tabernacle used by the Jews before it was replaced by the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Hopefully I'll be able to give a more complete post with archaeological and Tanachic references some day:

"Welcome in the name of God, to Shiloh," with a mosaic of the Mishkan.

Hothouses and agriculture at Shiloh.

One corner of where the Mishkan (tabernacle) once stood. In the background one can see the modern settlement of Shiloh.

And as for spiritual growth:

One think I'm learning now is bitachon, trust, in Hashem. You can't control every aspect of your life, and being nervous about the future doesn't clarify things or bring solutions. Israel, betach bashem! (Israel, trust Hashem!)