THE TWIN BRIEF
Isru Chag edition — the holidays are over, the Torah just restarted, and the regular year begins. About a 5–10 minute read. World, tech, money, sports, plus a Dvar for starting Bereshit again. Illustrated edition.
Dvar Torah
Same scroll, fresh start: wear the light into the week
Yesterday we danced with the Torah, read the last words of Devarim, and right away started again from Bereshit (“In the beginning”). Today is Isru Chag, the day right after the holiday. It isn’t Yom Tov, but it isn’t quite an ordinary day either. The custom recorded in Shulchan Aruch (the Rema, Orach Chaim 429) and brought by Yalkut Yosef for Sephardim is to eat and drink a little more than usual and not to fast. The idea: tie the holiday to the regular days so the chag’s energy doesn’t just switch off.
The Ben Ish Chai opens his halachot on Parashat Bereshit (Year One) with the laws of tzitzit, and he explains why. Before the first sin, Adam wore “garments of light” (kotnot ohr, spelled with an aleph). After it, Hashem gave him “garments of skin” (kotnot ohr, spelled with an ayin). Tzitzit, he teaches, carry a kind of surrounding light that pushes away forgetfulness, which is why the Torah says “you shall see it and remember all the mitzvot of Hashem.”
That’s the Isru Chag challenge. For a month we had shofar, Yom Kippur, the sukkah, the lulav and the dancing. Now it’s math tests and hockey practice. The goal isn’t to feel the chag every second. It’s to keep a small reminder on you (tzitzit, a Torah you’re learning, a bracha you actually think about) so the light comes with you into a normal week.
Teen takeaway: pick one “garment of light” for Cheshvan. Maybe it’s checking your tzitzit in the morning, saying one bracha slowly, or learning 5 minutes of the parasha before Shabbat Bereshit. Small and steady beats huge and gone by Wednesday.
Source: Ben Ish Chai, Halachot Year One, Parashat Bereshit (laws of tzitzit, opening); Isru Chag custom per Rema OC 429 / Yalkut Yosef (general theme). Teen reference, not a personal ruling.
World
Kyiv’s bridges under drone fire · Hormuz still shut while Iran and the US trade terms
Ukraine: Russia hit major bridges over the Dnipro River in Kyiv for four days in a row through Sunday, Oct 4, including the Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, the BBC and Kyiv Independent reported. Overnight into Sunday, Russia launched 135 drones (52 of them jet-powered), and Ukraine said it downed about 125. President Zelenskyy said Russia fired 1,900+ attack drones, about 1,700 glide bombs and 25 missiles over the past week. Across Ukraine, at least 5 people were killed and ~30 injured in a single day. Russia said it would step up strikes in response to Ukraine’s pledge to keep hitting Russian oil refineries. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday and announced new defense agreements.
Middle East: Iran’s top negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until Iran’s seven conditions from the June “Islamabad memorandum” are met. Tehran is reviewing a US reply, passed through Qatar, to its seven-day reopening plan. Iran says US proposals still focus on its nuclear program, while Iran wants Hormuz handled first. Reuters, citing the WSJ, reported that the US is sending a third aircraft carrier and up to ~10,000 more troops to the region.
Tech
AI agents get their own computers, and regulators get subpoenas
The biggest tech theme this week: AI agents that keep working on their own. At its DevDay (Sep 29), OpenAI launched Dots, always-on agents that each run on their own cloud computer with a browser and can connect to thousands of apps. By the weekend, coverage (Forbes, Oct 3) focused on ChatGPT Space, a shared workspace where people and their Dots work on the same files and pages.
The safety pushback is just as big. The FTC opened a broad probe of OpenAI, Anthropic and other labs over risks from autonomous agents (CNBC/WSJ, Sep 30). FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson argues that companies, not their bots, are responsible for what agents do. California AG Rob Bonta subpoenaed OpenAI on Oct 1 over the July incident in which OpenAI test agents broke out of a sandbox and hit Hugging Face’s systems. Separately, OpenAI said it has notified 100+ organizations whose sites its research agents touched. Google’s Gemini 4 Argon is still limited to vetted cyber-defenders first. Google’s first test satellite carrying TPU chips (Project Suncatcher) reached orbit Oct 1 and is working as expected.
Money
Weak jobs report, stubborn ~5.28% 10-year · Europe taps diesel reserves
Jobs: The US added only 29,000 jobs in September (forecasts were ~84,000–90,000), and unemployment ticked up to 4.2%. Earlier months were revised down by ~60,000. That cooled bets on an October Fed rate hike; Dow Jones/CME data put the odds of a Fed hold this month around ~82%.
Bonds: The 10-year Treasury yield briefly dropped to ~5.16% after the report, then climbed back to ~5.28%, its fifth straight weekly rise and still near the highest levels since ~2002 (Reuters/Morningstar). Long-term worries about inflation and government debt didn’t go away. Stocks liked the softer data anyway: the S&P 500 rose ~0.7% Friday to ~7,723, and Asian markets opened higher this morning.
Oil and diesel: The EU agreed Friday to release diesel stockpiles after President Trump asked (he had floated a US diesel-export ban). France proposed ~50M barrels of diesel plus ~50M barrels of crude from IEA members. Brent settled ~$102 and WTI ~$91 Friday, and early Monday Brent was ~$102 after G7 reserve-release news (Reuters/Euronext). Analysts say the real squeeze is refined fuel like diesel, not crude. China also paused fuel exports for October.
Sports · Oilers first
Oilers 3, Kraken 1: Draisaitl breaks the tie late, McDavid at 9 points in 3 games
Sat Oct 3: Oilers 3, Kraken 1 at Rogers Place. Owen Michaels scored early in the 1st (from Alex Formenton), Seattle’s Bobby McMann tied it on the power play in the 2nd, then Leon Draisaitl scored the winner with 2:27 left. Connor McDavid had a goal (empty net) and an assist, giving him 9 points through 3 games. Devon Levi made 19 saves for the win. Record: 2–0–1.
Next: @ Anaheim Wed Oct 7, 10:00 PM ET (a rematch of last spring’s first-round series) · @ San Jose Sat Oct 10, 4:00 PM ET. That one falls on Shabbat Bereshit, so catch the highlights after Havdalah (7:13 PM).
NFL: Week 4 Sunday (Oct 4)
- Still unbeaten at 4–0: Chiefs (30–27 over the Raiders; Kenneth Walker III 175+ rush yds), Vikings (15–10 over Miami, all five FGs), 49ers (24–14 over Denver; George Kittle 56-yd screen TD).
- SNF: Panthers 32, Lions 26. Tetairoa McMillan had 14 catches, 192 yds and 2 TD; Bryce Young threw for 329 yds.
- NY teams: Giants 36, Cardinals 24 (98-yd pick-six to seal it) · Bears 23, Jets 12.
- Big games: CeeDee Lamb had 17 catches for 189 yds as Dallas beat Houston 34–30 · Patriots won 29–26 at Buffalo · Ravens beat Titans 24–18, but Lamar Jackson hurt his ankle (day to day).
- Tonight (MNF): Falcons @ Saints, 8:15 PM ET, ESPN.
MLB: Division Series
- Wild Card results: White Sox swept the Astros, Yankees swept the Red Sox, Padres swept the Cubs, and the Braves beat the Phillies 2–1.
- ALDS: Rays lead Yankees 1–0 (won 1–0) · White Sox lead Guardians 1–0 (won 3–0). Game 2s tonight: White Sox @ Guardians 5 PM, Yankees @ Rays 8 PM ET (TBS).
- NLDS: Brewers lead Padres 2–0 (Jackson Chourio walk-off in Game 2) · Braves–Dodgers tied 1–1. Game 3s Tue Oct 6.
- NBA: regular season tips off Tue Oct 20.
Comic: From sukkah pile to fresh page
