THE TWIN BRIEF
Why you bite your tzitzit instead of knifing them, Russia says peace talks could restart in November, half the internet has to patch PHP, Meta and Tesla spook Wall Street, Oilers vs. the Canes tonight, and Anthony Edwards joins Jordan and Wilt.
Dvar Torah
No knives on the peace stuff
Weird-but-true halacha: when you need to trim tzitzit strings, the Ben Ish Chai (Year One, Lech Lecha) says it’s good to be careful not to cut them with a knife. Instead, bite them off with your teeth. Yes, really.
Why? He points to the Torah’s rule about the altar: “lo taniv aleihem barzel”, “don’t lift iron over the stones” (Devarim 27:5). Rashi (Shemot 20:22) explains the logic: the altar was made to lengthen people’s lives, and iron, the stuff swords are made of, was made to shorten them. The thing that cuts shouldn’t be waved over the thing that heals. And the altar makes peace between us and Hashem, so nothing that slices and destroys belongs on it.
Now this week’s parasha. Avram builds altar after altar (Bereshit 12:7–8). Right after he goes back to his altar (13:4), his shepherds and Lot’s start fighting, and what’s Avram’s first move? “Al na tehi meriva”, “please, let there be no fighting between us, we’re family” (13:8). He even lets Lot pick first.
Teen takeaway: Rashi adds a kal va-chomer. If stones that can’t see, hear or talk get protected from iron just because they bring peace, imagine how protected a person is who makes peace between people. So keep the “iron” away from the peace stuff: no knife-edged comments in the group chat, no roasting the kid who’s already down. Be the one who says “al na tehi meriva.”
Source: Ben Ish Chai, Halachot 1st Year, Parashat Lech Lecha (better not to cut tzitzit strings with a knife, based on “lo taniv aleihem barzel,” but to bite them); Hebrew text checked on Sefaria. Rashi on Shemot 20:22 (from the Mechilta), Devarim 27:5, Bereshit 12:7–8 and 13:4–9 (Sefaria). Teen reference, not a personal ruling. Ask your rav for your own practice.
World
Peace talks in November? · Strikes overnight anyway · Hormuz’s worst night
- Russia–Ukraine: After a three-hour meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, the Kremlin says it’s ready to restart three-way talks with the U.S. and Ukraine after Nov. 10. American Stephen Hubbard, freed by Russia during the meeting, is heading home (AP, Xinhua).
- …but the war didn’t pause: Hours later, Russian strikes killed seven people across Ukraine and wounded 15 in Kyiv, where a metro bridge was damaged. Russia said about 630 Ukrainian drones flew toward the Moscow region overnight (Euronews).
- Gulf: Iran says seven tankers were hit in the Strait of Hormuz overnight, four set on fire and three stopped by mines, possibly the biggest single night since the Iran war began in February. In Saudi Arabia, an attack on Dammam’s airport killed one person and injured eight (AP, Xinhua).
- Also: Israelis vote for a new prime minister next week, and Arab Israeli turnout could swing it. France is bracing for more protests Saturday after last week’s riots, and Britain approved new North Sea gas drilling to ease energy prices (Christian Science Monitor, Xinhua).
Tech
Patch your PHP · AI found the bugs · Apple’s next foldable
- Internet-wide fire drill: PHP, the code that runs a huge chunk of websites (some say up to 70%), told everyone to “update now” after two critical flaws that could let hackers take over servers without logging in. Finland briefly shut some government sites, and parts of the BBC went offline while patching (The Neuron, 9to5Mac roundup).
- Robots found it first: OpenAI says one of its models helped researchers find a flaw, and security firm Wiz found both using AI too. Amazon researchers say hackers were already poking at PHP days before the news went public. AI is speeding up both the good guys and the bad guys.
- AI that texts you first: Anthropic launched Claude Duet, an assistant that works in the background and pings you instead of waiting for a question. Meanwhile, some Google DeepMind researchers quit over military AI work (BBC via The Neuron).
- Apple: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports Apple is already testing a second-gen iPhone Duo with Face ID, even as the first one launches with strong pre-orders.
Money
Up Wednesday · Down Thursday morning · Oil $112
- Wednesday’s close: The Dow rose 360 points (+0.7%), the S&P 500 +0.6% for its third straight up day, and the Nasdaq +1.1%, led by SpaceX jumping about 7% after its blockbuster quarter (CNBC).
- Tesla: Beat on revenue ($28.05 billion), but profit fell about 44% and car sales revenue dropped. It also cut its spending plans ahead of a possible SpaceX merger, and the stock was down about 5% before the open (AP, CNBC, Reuters).
- Meta: Revenue up 26% to $64.6 billion, but it’s creating a new kind of stock with no voting rights to help pay for AI, and a New Mexico judge ordered a $25 billion privacy penalty. Shares slipped (MarketWatch, Reuters). Lesson: great grades don’t matter if the bill is scary.
- This morning: Nasdaq futures were down nearly 2%, and Brent crude climbed above $112 after more Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia (Reuters).
Sports
Oilers vs. Canes tonight · Ant-Man joins MJ and Wilt · Pats at Bears · World Series Friday
- Oilers tonight: Edmonton (7-1-1) hosts Carolina (8-2-1) at Rogers Place, 9:00 PM ET, a matchup of two of the NHL’s best starts. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is expected to make his season debut, and McDavid brings an NHL-best 26 points with a point in all nine games. Carolina gets Seth Jarvis back (NHL.com).
- NBA: Anthony Edwards dropped 45 as Minnesota crushed Miami 131–106, becoming only the third player to score 40+ in more than one season opener, joining Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Ty Jerome also scored a career-high 45 for Memphis, and Luka hit a half-court buzzer-beater as the Lakers beat the Warriors 127–105. Locally, the Nets fell 110–103 to Charlotte despite 33 from Julius Randle (NBA.com, theScore).
- NFL: Thursday Night Football is Patriots at Bears, 8:15 PM ET.
- MLB: World Series Game 1, Rays at Brewers, is Friday night (Shabbat), so catch the highlights after Havdalah.
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