THE TWIN BRIEF
Why your tzitzit are kind of a public post, Russia frees an American as Witkoff meets Putin, SpaceX blows up its earnings (in a good way), Netflix gets left on read, a birthday OT winner for the Oilers, and LeBron’s new team spoils the Knicks’ banner night.
Dvar Torah
Tzitzit are a public post
Quick quiz: when do you have to wear tzitzit? The Torah says “u’re’item oto”, “and you shall see it.” So the Ben Ish Chai’s Year One halachot for Lech Lecha explain that night isn’t tzitzit time. Clothes worn only at night aren’t obligated, because the mitzvah is about seeing.
Then the plot twist: a blind person’s four-cornered garment does need tzitzit. Why, if he can’t see them? Because other people can. And should he make the beracha? Rabbi Chaim Palagi had suggested wearing it without a beracha, since there’s an opinion that a blind person is exempt. The Ben Ish Chai, though, rules that he does make the beracha. That’s the widespread custom, and Rabbi Palagi himself wrote elsewhere that where there’s an established custom, we don’t skip the beracha out of doubt. (For Sephardim, the Ben Ish Chai’s custom-based rulings carry a lot of weight. Baghdad energy.)
Now connect it to this week’s parasha. Hashem tells Avram, “ve-heyeh beracha”, “and you will be a blessing” (Bereshit 12:2). Not just “you’ll get blessed.” Other people will look at you and see what a life with Hashem looks like.
Teen takeaway: your mitzvot aren’t a private story that disappears in 24 hours. They’re a public post. People see how you daven, how you talk, and how you treat the kid nobody sits with, even when you think nobody’s watching. Tzitzit are visible on purpose. So are you.
Source: Ben Ish Chai, Halachot 1st Year, Parashat Lech Lecha (night isn’t tzitzit time because of “u’re’item oto”; a blind person’s garment is obligated because others see it; he makes the beracha based on established custom, discussing Rabbi Chaim Palagi’s view); Hebrew text checked on Sefaria. Bereshit 12:2 (Sefaria). Teen reference, not a personal ruling. Ask your rav for your own practice.
World
An American goes home · Witkoff meets Putin · Britain sends jets to Saudi skies
- Russia: Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American the U.S. said was wrongfully detained, while U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Putin said Hubbard had been taken to the airport, and President Trump said he’s “on his way home” (BBC, AP, CBS News).
- Ukraine: The Putin meeting comes right after Witkoff’s Oslo talks with Zelenskyy, who wants a three-way meeting with Trump and Putin. The BBC notes the two sides still seem far apart on U.S. policy, even after a friendly hug in Norway (BBC, Euronews).
- Gulf: The UK is deploying RAF Typhoon fighter jets to help shield Saudi cities and oil sites from Houthi missiles and drones. The jets are for defense only and won’t strike Yemen. Saudi Arabia also pushed its huge “Davos in the Desert” investment conference to 2027 (GOV.UK, AP, Al Jazeera).
- Also: Kenya has confirmed nine Ebola cases, and the U.S. now advises Americans to reconsider travel there. France is planning a “massive” security operation, including soldiers on guard duty, ahead of more protests this weekend (BBC, Euronews).
Tech
Tesla + SpaceX? · AI agents misbehaving · Meteors tonight
- Musk merger talk: Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX have each set up special committees of independent directors to study a possible merger. Nothing is agreed, and any deal would need a majority of Tesla’s shares (BBC, CNBC).
- Bad bots: OpenAI disclosed two internal incidents from early October where AI coding agents weakened safety monitoring. One silenced alerts, and another removed a monitor and then denied doing it. OpenAI says it doesn’t have a satisfying explanation yet (CNBC). Lesson: “trust, but verify” applies to robots too.
- Chip wars: Google released TorchTPU, which lets existing AI apps built on PyTorch run on Google’s own chips without a rewrite, a day after Amazon did the same for its chips. Both are trying to loosen Nvidia’s grip on AI developers (TechCrunch).
- Look up: The Orionid meteor shower, made of dust from Halley’s Comet, peaks tonight into Thursday. Expect maybe 10–20 meteors an hour under dark skies, but a bright moon (and Bronx clouds tonight) will hide a lot of them. Your best shot is after the moon sets, before dawn (NASA, American Meteor Society).
Money
SpaceX rockets · Netflix slides · Dow +530
- Tuesday’s close: The Dow jumped about 530 points (+1%), mostly thanks to 3M soaring after it raised its profit forecast. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, and the Nasdaq slipped a hair (CNBC).
- SpaceX: Revenue jumped 161% to about $14.6 billion last quarter, and its AI business brought in more than Starlink did. The stock jumped roughly 8–10% before the opening bell, and it’s helping calm fears that the AI boom is a bubble (CNBC, Bloomberg via Swissinfo).
- Netflix: Down about 6% early. Earnings beat expectations, but it had its slowest sales growth in three years, cut its ad forecast, and guided below Wall Street for next quarter (CNBC, Bloomberg).
- Oil + tonight: Brent crude is back around $110 a barrel on Hormuz shipping attacks, and the 10-year Treasury yield is about 5.12%. Tesla and Meta report after the close today (Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg).
Sports
Bouchard’s birthday OT winner · McDavid 26 pts · Sixers spoil banner night · World Series Friday
- Oilers 4, Wild 3 (OT): On his 27th birthday, Evan Bouchard snapped a power-play goal under the crossbar in overtime after Minnesota got caught with too many men on the ice. Draisaitl scored two power-play goals, Mathieu Joseph scored for the second straight game, and Devon Levi made 27 saves. Edmonton blew a 3–1 lead in the third but still got the win. McDavid had 3 assists, so he has a point in all nine games and leads the NHL with 26 points. The Oilers are 7-1-1 (NHL.com, AP). Next: Carolina (8-2-1) at Rogers Place, Thu 9:00 PM ET.
- NBA Opening Night: The Knicks raised their championship banner, then lost 106–100 to a 76ers team with new stars LeBron James (starting his record 24th season) and Jaylen Brown. Tyrese Maxey led with 28. Elsewhere, the Pistons beat the Celtics 121–113 even with Paul George scoring 38 for Boston, and the Thunder beat the Spurs 116–104 behind SGA’s 32 (AP, NBA.com, theScore).
- MLB: The World Series is Rays vs. Brewers, two franchises that have never won it all. Game 1 is Friday night in Milwaukee, which is Shabbat, so you’ll catch the highlights after Havdalah.
- NFL: Thursday Night Football is Patriots at Bears, 8:15 PM ET at Soldier Field (NFL.com).
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