Head Covering for Women - needed for Beracha?

 https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/03-10-06/

Reciting berakhot is not considered to be standing before the King, so a woman in private, when the laws of tzni’ut do not require her to cover her hair, there is no need for her to cover her head while reciting a berakha. However, Yabi’a Omer 6:15 and Halikhot Bat Yisrael 5:3 state that married women must cover their heads when mentioning God’s name, even when in complete privacy. Still, in practice, many married women normally recite the bedtime Shema and Ha-mapil without a head covering. It seems that the reason for this is what I wrote above, that the obligation to wear a yarmulke when reciting berakhot is based on the pious custom to cover one’s head throughout the entire day. Since the yarmulke inspires fear of God all day, it follows that one must also wear it while invoking God’s name. However, women, who do not customarily wear a yarmulke to inspire fear of God, need not wear one when mentioning God’s name either. There is proof for this in m. Ĥalla 23: “A woman may sit and separate the ĥalla while nude.” Nude here obviously means bareheaded, for it would not make sense that she is required to cover her head but allowed to recite the berakha while nude. R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach rules this way too, saying that women’s custom to cover their heads in the mikveh while making the berakha on immersion does not obligate them in this practice for all other berakhot (Halikhot Bat Yisrael 5 n. 6). Therefore, a woman who wakes up in the middle of the night to relieve herself is not obligated to cover her head while reciting Asher Yatzar. Likewise, a woman who walks around her house bareheaded (when there are no strangers around) and wants to drink something is allowed to recite She-hakol and Borei Nefashot without a head-covering. 

Biden sends antimissile system and 100 troops to Israel, deepening U.S. role

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/10/13/biden-thaad-missile-defense-israel/

The United States is sending one of its most advanced missile defense systems and about 100 U.S. troops to Israel, deepening U.S. involvement in the escalating war in the Middle East amid U.S. expectations of an imminent Israeli assault on Iran.

Netanyahu: UN must withdraw south Lebanon peacekeepers from combat zones

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-un-must-withdraw-south-lebanon-peacekeepers-from-combat-zones/

PM accuses Hezbollah of using UNIFIL as ‘human shields,’ urges Guterres to get take the forces ‘out of harm’s way,’ far from terror group’s strongholds

Genetic Study Reveals Christopher Columbus Was Possibly Jewish

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/genetic-study-reveals-christopher-columbus-was-possibly-jewish?ref=home

One day before Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a decades-long genetic study revealed that explorer Christopher Columbus may have Jewish and Spanish heritage. The report, which says the explorer was born in Valencia, contradicts long-held beliefs that Columbus was Italian and from Genoa. According to the BBC, scientists in Spain are responsible for cracking the genetic bombshell and have been working on it since 2003. They theorize that Columbus hid his Jewish “background to avoid religious persecution.” In 1492, 300,000 Jewish people living in Spain were forced to convert to Catholicism, or else they would be booted from the country. The outlet reports that prior to this DNA discovery, Columbus’s origins have been debated for years, with different theories linking his birth to countries like Poland, Greece, and Scandinavia, to name a few. Researchers used DNA from Columbus’ tomb in Seville, as well as the graves of his son and brother, to conduct their research.

Unprecedented Lebanese drone attack wounds 67 near Binyamina, four in critical condition

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-824417

Two drones were launched toward Israel, but one of the UAVs penetrated deep into Israel, crashing in the Binyamina area. No alarms were activated.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein on What Makes America Great

 https://thelehrhaus.com/timely-thoughts/rabbi-moshe-feinstein-on-what-makes-america-great/

Therefore, the United States, which established in its Constitution 150 years ago that it will not uphold any faith or any ideology, rather, that each person shall do as he desires, and the regime will see that people do not molest one another, is carrying out God’s will. It is for that reason that they have succeeded and become great in our times.

Captured documents reveal Hamas’s broader ambition to wreak havoc on Israel

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/10/12/exclusive-hamas-documents-sinwar-planning-iran/

Dozens of pages found by Israeli troops in Gaza detail a potential Hamas plan far bigger than the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and show how militant leaders wanted Iranian funds and training.

They Came to Florida for a Slice of Paradise. Now They Are Packing Their Bags

 https://www.wsj.com/us-news/they-came-to-florida-for-a-slice-of-paradise-now-they-are-packing-their-bags-41d7275a?mod=hp_lead_pos2

Some Floridians are reaching a breaking point. For decades, the state has beckoned as something of a magical destination—a sunny escape for retirees and others seeking affordable waterfront living. But the parade of climate disasters, along with soaring home costs, skyrocketing home-insurance premiums and some of the highest inflation rates in the nation, is undermining that appeal. On Friday night, close to two million people were still without power and the state was just beginning to dig out of a wide swath of damage.

We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker.

 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/12/trump-racist-rhetoric-immigrants-00183537

His rhetoric has veered more than ever into conspiracy theories and rumors, like when he amplified false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets. And Trump has demonized minority groups and used increasingly dark, graphic imagery to talk about migrants in every one of his speeches since the Sept. 10 presidential debate, according to a POLITICO review of more than 20 campaign events. It’s a stark escalation over the last month of what some experts in political rhetoric, fascism, and immigration say is a strong echo of authoritarians and Nazi ideology.

Trump Campaign Responds to Mark Milley Reportedly Calling Him 'Fascist'

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-campaign-responds-mark-milley-calling-him-fascist-1968056

"He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he's a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country," Milley, who was nominated by Trump to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2018 and served in the role from 2019 to 2023, reportedly told Woodward.

When It is Medically Required to Eat on Yom Kippur

 https://vinnews.com/2022/10/03/when-it-is-medically-required-to-eat-on-yom-kippur/

FOODS

Ideally, one should try to space them every nine minutes.

The view of Rav Chaim Na-eh for food is 8 minutes (See Shiurei Torah 3:15).

Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l writes (Igros Moshe OC IV #41) that b’dieved – in a case of need, they should have a gap of 4 minutes between them.

LIQUIDS

In regard to liquids one should shoot for a nine minute gap, but if not – a four minute gap.

If this is not possible, then, for liquids, one should try to fulfill the view of the Chasam Sofer (Responsa Volume VI #23) of a gap of at least two minutes.

The timing is based on the concept of the eating of a Pras – four eggs. The Mishna Brurah writes 618:20 that the shiur for this is nine minutes. These are the main views

Truth and Halacha

  Rav Moshe Feinstein(Igros Moshe Y.D. 3:92): Our Sages describe the opposing views of halachic debate as both being “the words of the living G‑d.” This means that Torah study of the diverse views of Sages inherently does not contain something which is not true. Thus the opposing views of Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel are both true. This rule applies also to the disputes of R’ Eliezer and all the Tannaim and Amoraim. All of them were given from One Shepherd. Thus it was not untrue when the Heavenly Bas Kol announced that the Halacha was in accord with R’ Eliezer. His words were inherently true - even though in this world we decide practical Halacha on the basis of majority decision. Because of the inherent truth of all views of our sages, we say the blessing “Who gave to us the Torah of truth” even if we are only learning the views that have been rejected from practical Halacha such as Beis Shammai or minority opinions.

Gemar Chasima Tova

The miraculous rebirth of Benjamin Netanyahu

 https://www.politico.eu/article/miraculous-rebirth-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-palestine-war/

A year ago, Benjamin Netanyahu’s long career at the top of Israeli politics looked like it was over. His government’s catastrophic failure to prevent the Oct. 7 attacks meant the only thing keeping him in office as prime minister, amid surging public grief and anger, was the need for stability in an emergency.

..Twelve months on, he has recovered his standing after ordering a series of audacious attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah targets. The remote detonating of thousands of pagers and the assassination of the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, stunned observers around the world and boosted his popularity at home.