Today is my baby brother’s birthday. That would be the brother with the teenaged son. We are not getting any younger, but Alex is getting older. He’s about ready to start driving. Yikes.

Dave’s birthday coincides with my Hebrew school class leading services tonight. This will be my fifth time watching my students stand in front of the bimah and chant prayers and psalms. They’re a little nervous about Mizmor L’David and Mi Chamocha—I wound up asking the Rabbi to record it with us on Tuesday and emailed the mp3 to whichever student requested it—but they’ll be fine. And, I told them, Ms. Yourish would be bringing a special snack to the Oneg (reception afterwards). It’s brownies. I thought briefly about making them myself, but Costco has kosher brownies available in a 3-lb. container, so off to Costco I went this afternoon. Turns out the children are going to have even more of a surprise: There’s hamentaschen tonight. Usually, they have to wait until Purim, but apparently we had extras, or the adminstrator wanted to make sure that the Friday night crowd got some, too.

I have noticed many changes in my students over the last five years. My first class wasn’t nearly as confident leading services as my more recent classes have been, and I ascribe that entirely to the rabbi and director of education, both of whom are moving on this year. They instituted a program of twice-a-week t’filah (prayers) practice, during which we learn the Friday and Saturday prayers. That, in my opinion, is what makes them so great leading services—not my making them practice a few weeks before the date.

Tonight’s my students’ turn to shine. They’ll do well. I’ve been practicing with them in class, and they always turn out better than they think they will. This year, I have a student that is very vocal about his opinions, and he kept saying “We stink!” during practice. It took a little convincing, because of course that kind of sentiment catches on. We’ll see how they feel tonight. I’m guessing they’ll decide they did well. Especially after a couple of brownies and hamentaschen.

Update: Perfect attendance, and they were superb. I was so proud of them.

Against Israel, that is.

Hundreds of Hamas members are being smuggled across the Rafah border terminal to Egypt to attend advanced terror training camps in Syria and Iran, senior defense officials told Ynet.

However, the delegation of European inspectors stationed at Gaza-Egypt border denied the charges and claimed Israel never warned them or filed any complaints regarding the phenomenon.

File this under: “What capitulating to the strong-arming of the U.S. State Dept. hath wrought.” Israel wanted to keep control of the Rafah crossing.

Top Israeli defense officials expressed great concern over the increased use of the Rafah crossing for terror purposes. If the EU inspectors don’t clamp down on money smuggling and the passage of terrorists, Israel may consider not renewing the agreements on Rafah crossing supervision when they expire in two months, the officials warned.

“This issue could be a stumbling block to all future agreements,” officials in Jerusalem said.

War is coming. Another war, this spring, is what I’m thinking.

According to official sources in Jerusalem, some 100 Hamas terrorists crossed the Rafah border terminal in recent weeks. Intelligence information collected by the defense establishment indicates that the terrorists make their way to special training camps in Iran and Syria, founded specially to train and coach Palestinians for terror attacks against Israel should Hamas decide to terminate its ceasefire.

Security officials in Israel said this phenomenon was part of the recent trend by which Iran and Syria have shown increasing involvement in developing Palestinian terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Terror operatives from Gaza that train in Tehran and Damascus acquire knowledge and training in the use of advanced weapons. Terrorist elements continue to smuggle more and more advanced weapons into Gaza, including anti-tank missiles, ground-to-ground missiles (SSMs), and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) that could threaten Israeli Air Force planes that fly over Gaza.

The officials said explosives and bombs are also being smuggled, and the security establishment fears that rocket-manufacturing know-how may leak from Gaza into Israel.

And when it happens, watch for the world to rise up in unison and blame Israel for it.

It isn’t quite spring, but it’s in the 70s here today. And Tig is enjoying it, muchly.

That is my happy boy.

This week’s protest in Bilin wasn’t your ordinary protest against the security fence. It was also a celebration of terrorism. You have to hand it to the ISM peace creeps and their ilk: They have no shame.

600 people took part in the protest, which was also held to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the establishment of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

The DFLP was responsible for the Ma’alot massacre, which killed 26 Israelis, including 21 children, after taking them hostage in school. They also massacred children on the way to school.

Early in the morning, the bus departed from Avivim heading with its passengers to two local schools, as it did every morning following the same route. This route had secretly been scouted by the Palestinians in the weeks leading up to the assault, and a careful ambush was prepared. As the bus passed the ambush point, just ten minutes after leaving Avivim, it was attacked by heavy automatic gunfire from both sides of the road. The driver was amongst those hit in the initial barrage, as were the two other adults on board, all three being killed as the bus crashed into an embankment, the gunmen still firing into the vehicle.

These are the people that the foreign “peace activists” celebrated today. The murderers of children. Way to go, ISM and other peace creeps.

The JPost says they did their usual “peaceful” dance:

A protester was wounded and one was arrested on Friday during the weekly demonstration against the construction of the West Bank security barrier near the village of Bili’in.

IDF soldiers and police officers scuffled with the protesters who threw stones towards the security personnel.

The troops responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters who approached the fence.

Ha’aretz says 10 of the “peaceful” protesters were hurt after they, as usual, threw rocks at the soldiers.

At least 10 activists were wounded on Friday in clashes with security forces at the weekly protest against the separation fence in the West Bank village of Bil’in.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers fired rubber-tipped bullets at protesters who hurled stones at them. Protesters said soldiers also targeted youths who did not take part in the violent exchange.

Here is where I usually take the time to point out that the participants are almost always mostly “internationals.” The palestinians in Bilin appear to have better things to do on Fridays than attend these anti-fence “protests.”

Hundreds of peace activists, Israelis, foreigners and Palestinians, have been protesting for about two years at least once a week in Bilin, near Ramallah, against the barrier.

And today, they celebrated the anniversary of a murderous organization that counts among its highest achievements the murder of schoolchildren.

Nice.

All those litmus tests in the neighborhood reminded me that I need to bring my old Terms of Use page into the modern era of this blog. So here are the terms, slightly updated. And for your information, yes, some people really did link me with that great phrase below.

Terms of Use: Yourish.com

By reading, linking to, quoting, printing out, or in any way making use of Yourish.com’s content in any means, place, or forum, you agree to the following:

1. All original content of Yourish.com is copyrighted by Yourish.com’s owner, presently Meryl Yourish, and is not to be used without permission except as provided herein. In order to get my express permission, it will be necessary to bribe me. Acceptable bribes will be (but not limited to): Yukon Gold potato chips (the regular kind, none of those frou-frou flavors), Godiva Grand Menthes (many, many of those) or other plain Godiva chocolates (I don’t like the ones with nuts in them), backrubs, videos and DVDs of all Sondheim’s plays available (tickets to performances of Sondheim works may be substituted), Hersheyets (I cannot find them anywhere anymore, and I love the Hershey’s version of M&M’s), and an exact copy of the needlepoint in my vet’s office that says “Home is Where the Cat Is” (I can’t do needlepoint. It takes patience. I have none.).

2. Permission is granted to quote, cite, link to, print out or otherwise use Yourish.com content, so long as you comply with the terms below (and above! My bribes! Don’t forget my bribes!).

A. All quotations from Yourish.com will include credit to Yourish.com or to Meryl Yourish and, wherever practicable, a hyperlink of the form http://www.Yourish.com … to the site. Plus, you have to post, “Meryl is the kewlest person ever11! She rUlez, d00dz!1!11!”

B. In exchange for the access to Yourish.com content described above, you agree not to sue Yourish.com for its content, whether original or linked or quoted from another source, in any court, on any grounds whatsoever in law or equity. (I really like that last. You’re screwed, dudes.) Should you violate this agreement by filing such a lawsuit, you agree to pay Yourish.com’s owner or owners the sum of one million billion jillion gazillion dollars (how many zeroes is in that?) as liquidated damages, in addition to paying for everything else, and, oh, while I’m at it, my cats need a new Kitty Condo, I want a bikini top for my Jeep, another VCR, the third fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD, tickets to the World Series, and gift certificates for trainers and massage therapy at the Richmond JCC. You have to pay for that, too. And I want a kitten. No, wait, scratch that. Too much trouble to raise. I want you to raise the kitten, only now make it four of them, and I get to visit and play with them whenever I want.

C. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah. (I think this one means you owe me more money.)

D. If you are a corporation, you have to pay two million billion jillion gazillion dollars, plus give me a lifetime supply of Godiva chocolates, and now I’m seriously thinking about making you hire me male escorts anytime I damned well please, for the rest of my life.

3. If you do not agree to these terms of use, exit the site immediately, destroy all copies of Yourish.com content remaining in any form on your computer, any other computer or network device under your control, in print form, or on any information storage or retrieval device that you possess or control. Print out whatever copy is left, apply salt and pepper, cook at 350°F., then eat it warm. Then execute the following affidavit and send it by certified mail to Yourish.com, Richmond, VA, uh, wait—you think I’m going to give you my address? On the Internet? Yeah, right.

Affidavit

I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I read everything on this page and agree with it (well, except maybe for the male escort part, I’m pretty sure that’s illegal), and (all right, maybe I don’t agree with the exact form of payment, because nobody really knows what a jillion is. Or a gazillion.) and I understand that action contrary to these statements constitutes both perjury and a violation of the Yourish.com Terms of Use, subjecting me to possible civil and criminal liability. (And almost certainly the ridicule of my peers for being stupid enough to sign something like this.) (HEY! I HEARD THAT. I’m right HERE!)

__________________

Signed (include date)

__________________

Witnessed (notary)

Notary Seal:

My commission expires: ______________

(If anyone gets what that stuff up there means, let me know. On second thought, never mind. Nobody’s gonna really print this out and mail it to me, anyway.)

Yes, that’s right. The president of Iran says I am the true incarnation of Satan.

Damn. I had no idea I was this powerful.

What’s that? He meant “Jews,” not Zionists?

Well, I’m Jewish.

What’s that? He meant “Israelis,” not Jews?

Uh-huh.

President Ahmadinejad referring to a number of Zionist regime’s endless list of crimes, highlighted the massacre of defenseless Palestinian and Lebanese nations, emphasizing, “The Zionists are the true manifestation of Satan.”

Referring to the strong support of a number of warmonger powers for the racist Zionist regime, Ahmadinejad reiterated, “Many Western governments that claim to be pioneers of democracy and standard bearers of human rights close their eyes over crimes committed by the Zionists and by remaining silent support the Zionists due to their hedonist and materialist tendencies.”

The President added, “Today the Zionist regime is a symbol of hedonism and the manifestation of the ugly soul of some usurper powers that support it.”
President Ahmadinejad whose comments were confirmed by “Allah-o-Akbar” (God is the Greatest) shouts of Sudanese Alims, added, “The grave problem with which the mankind is entangled today is that some tyrants have deviated a lot from the prophets’ path, that is the Right Path.”

He said, “We notice today that some powerful leaders consider the entire world as their own property and interpret all rules and regulations in their own favor.”

Ahmadinejad considered return to the Divine Prophets’ Path as the only way left for saving the mankind from the quagmire they are caught in due to deficiencies of the man made schools of thought, such as Liberalism and Communism that have failed in meeting the dire needs of the mankind.

Say, when his own news service quotes him as saying the world must submit to Islam, is it still Islamophobia to say that Ahmadinejad wants us all to convert to Islam?

Well, I don’t know about you, but this Zionist is thinking of changing her blog’s tagline.

Yourish.com: One of the many incarnations of Satan, according to the president of Iran.

Ya think?