Long-winded Israel diatribe: Enjoy!

I hope everyone noticed the new button on the left of the page for the Lubavitch Blog Network. It's all thanks to Chaim Rubin, who has done a great job.
Anyway, Merkos Shlichus continued today, without too much excitement. We met a Jewish employee of Starbucks, who was quite friendly. Unfortunately, all the other people we visited were unavailable for much.
The issue of Israel as a political entity versus Eretz Yisrael the holy land recently came up, and I thought it would serve as a good topic for the rest of today's regularly scheduled blog. The issue was thought to be dead and buried, but a new and strange commenter has arisen who has challenged TRS' assertion that these two aspects of Israel are inseparable. The counter-claim has so far been limited to the assertion that the two are separate; it has unfortunately been devoid of any arguments that would back up this claim.
For the sake of the argument here I'm going to assume that we all believe in creation as espoused in official Lubavitch doctrine. If you don't agree, well, feel free to blast away at each other in the comments section. Anyway, the holy land of Israel is where creation began, and it's where the dove's olive branch (of Noah fame) came from (or maybe that was Eden. Regardless). So I'll accept that the land of Israel was holy before the creation of any political state. The next time we find the land mentioned, it's become the land of Canaan, inhabited by 31 tribes. The land is now not only holy, but also political. When Avraham tried to settle the land he had to deal with the political facts of the time. He made treaties, fought wars, and bought land. He could not treat the land in a merely spiritual manner, because there were facts on the ground. His son Yitzchak had the same experience, as did Yaakov, Avraham's grandson. The land was undoubtedly holy, but it was not exclusively holy. Even then it was intimately connected with the political division of its Canaanite masters.
A short while later, the Israelites came out of Egypt, spent some time wandering around in the desert, and finally kicked the Canaanites out of the land of Canaan. Well, not quite. They actually failed quite miserably in this regard, and they weren't true masters of the land until the time of David, which was 404 years after they first entered it with Yehoshua. Until this point in time, the holy land was constantly beset by both external warfare and internal fighting. It is illogical to suppose that the spiritual quality of the land was unaffected by this ongoing strife. We only need look at the story of Eli the High Priest to recognize that even the service in the Mishkan was not free from interference.
The years of David and his son Shlomo were unique in Jewish history; nevertheless, things were not perfect even then. Since then, of course, the political and religious characters of the land have become enmeshed to the point that they are virtually inseparable.
The real question is perhaps not "Was there ever a time when the political and spiritual characters of the land were separate", but rather, "Is it possible to wonder if they could ever be separate?" The spiritual character of the land is dependent on Jewish ownership of the land; i.e. without Jews, there would be no Israel. I do not argue that the holiness of the land is eternal, but rather with the assertion that it can ever be separate from political realities. Indeed, if the temple were to be rebuilt and all Jews regathered, though the land was still under the dominion of a foreign power, then the Messiah would not have arrived. Only when the land has true political independence, and some would say dominance, could the Messiah truly be said to have arrived.
The argument posited that the land is holy and beautiful, independent of who is in charge. I agree with this. Anything can be viewed independently, out of context. For the land to be truly evaluated, political realities have to be accounted for. The holiest spot to Jews, the temple mount, is currently inaccessible. This is a result of the political reality. One day, when the Messiah comes, this land will be accessible. This too will be a result of the political reality. When Jerusalem can be put on the bargaining table, there can be no doubt that the spiritual Israel, the holy land, is firmly in the grip of the political arbitrators of the land.
As Jews, we have prayed for 2000 years to return to the land. A Zionist would tell you that this has been accomplished. What does he mean? That the Jewish people have political control of the land. Even before 1948, the land was holy. But it was not controlled by Jews. The beauty and spiritually of the land were dependent on the largesse of the ruling empire. After 1948, this status-quo remained. The temple mount is inaccessible. This is not because the land is not holy and beautiful. It is because of the political situation. It would be great if we could say that the spiritual qualities of the land are unaffected by the political realities, but it simply is not true. Even in the times of David and Shlomo, the spiritual life of the country was dependent on their military prowess.
How much more so in our times. There is no pure expression of spirituality in the land, because that very spirituality is dependent on political forces. At the same time, no political decision was ever made that ignored the unique function of the Israel, that bypassed its status as a holy land for all peoples.

Sorry, I know that this piece is a rather haphazard explanation of my view, but I have no doubt that it will be mangled, minced, and possibly maced in the comments, and then it will possibly make sense to someone besides me. Actually, it barely even makes sense to me. Nu nu.

The following is a story that I started writing before I was inspired to blog about whatever it is that I eventually blogged about. It's incomplete, but still possibly enjoyable.

Joshua was a little boy with a precocious talent for making his elders desire his excommunication. The one blemish on his youthful brilliance was that he often said things which weren't necessarily necessary. All children do this, but Joshua's sin was different than other children's misdeeds. You see, Joshua's statements had the unfortunate habit of causing great monetary loss to whomever had the misfortune of being the butt of one of his zingers.
Joshua's parents, who had naturally suffered greatly, were reduced to bankruptcy. Their car was repossessed, they had no money for AC, their Sunday bagels and lox didn't even have cream cheese. Joshua, with the irrepressible spirit renowned in youth and certain varieties of garden cream, was unfazed by the destruction he had wrought, and placidly continued talking and causing great financial loss, which often came simultaneously.