Friday 13th Boo Boo Of the Century Just Happened

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

              Samir B. Mehta currently serves as the President of Communication Systems at L3Harris, contributing for 1 year.   His family background is most likely India. Samir previously held positions at Collins .  I guess we can blame him for picking  Friday the 13th afternoon work period on a faulty communications set-up when everyone knows we don't rock the boat on a Friday 13th, everyone including us Jews as well as all the Christians and even American Budhists.  Work on Friday 13th and dare walking under a ladder or whatever???Forget it!!!!  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Stonehill College, a Master’s degree in Political Affairs from the University of Connecticut, and a J.D. from the University of Connecticut. Samir has made political contributions totaling $6000 to Republican causes and $3845 to Democrat causes. So to do so on such a shaky day took some mighty reasoning for such a team.  Surely they knew the black cat would appear and bring bad luck!!!  And it happened!!

The Friday the 13th afternoon disruption refers to the November 13, 2026 nationwide FAA ground stop, which occurred while telecommunications contractor L3Harris was upgrading old Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) copper wiring to fiber-optic cable. L3Harris Technologies is a major American aerospace and defense technology innovator and military contractor.Company Overview

Headquarters: Melbourne, Florida
Founded: June 29, 2019 (via the merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corporation)
CEO & President: Sam Mehta
Stock Ticker: NYSE: LHX (S&P 500 component)
Workforce: Approximately 45,000 to 47,000 employees

      Evita Alfonso nee Duffy                                    








                           Rachel Campos (Oct 22,; 1971)




                                              Sean Duffy, Republican  (Oct 3, 1971) -father of 9 children with Evita being the first.  Evita Duffy-Alfonso is the eldest of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy's nine children. She is a new mom, wife, ..  Sean Patrick Duffy is an American politician, attorney, and former television personality who is serving as the 20th United States secretary of transportation. Duffy previously served as the acting administrator of NASA from July to December 2025.

In October 2019, CNN hired Duffy as a paid contributor. He faced criticism for defending Donald Trump in a scandal involving a quid pro quo with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and suggesting that a Democratic National Committee server had gone missing in Ukraine.  In 2021, Duffy and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, began a podcast, From the Kitchen Table: The Duffys (2021–2024). He began co-hosting Fox Business's The Bottom Line with Dagen McDowell in 2023.    



Bryan Keith Bedford (Oct 26, 1961 in Florida)  is an American business executive who is the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Before becoming administrator, Bedford served as the chief executive of Republic Airways Holdings from 1999 to 2025. At the start of president Donald Trump's second administration in January 2025, Michael Whitaker, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, resigned. In March, Bloomberg News reported that Bedford was a frontrunner to serve as Trump's nominee for the position. On March 17, Trump named Bedford as his nominee. On July 9, 2025 the US Senate voted 53-43 to confirm him to the position of FAA administrator.

In March 2026, Bedford announced updated safety protocols in response to the January 2025 mid-air crash at National Airport.

The two officials who addressed the incident and oversaw the agencies involved are Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

Who made the decision: Officials have not named any individual technicians or managers who scheduled the Friday afternoon upgrade. Secretary Duffy stated that L3Harris, a longtime FAA contractor, was performing routine maintenance at a remote facility to replace aging copper lines and 2001-era routers. 
The response: Duffy noted that officials are still investigating whether the system overload was caused by contractor error or a faulty router, while Administrator Bedford defended the decision to issue the nationwide ground issue for all planes. 
In July 1999, Bedford became the president and chief executive of Republic Airways Holdings. He became chairman in August 2001. In 2009, the company won a bankruptcy auction for Frontier Airlines. The following year, Bedford appeared on Undercover Boss (2010–2022) as the chief executive of Frontier, announcing that he would end a ten percent pay cut. According to The Wall Street Journal, his appearance drew scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration.
 Bedford has opposed a rule that requires pilots to log 1,500 hours of flying before obtaining their Airline Transport Pilot certificate and being able to operate as a flight officer for a commercial FAA part 121 airline, lobbying against it before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in 2014. In 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration rejected Republic Airways Holdings's request to reduce required hours to 750 for pilots that trained at their in-house flight school. Bedford opposes the mandatory retirement age of 65 for pilots.
A nationwide FAA ground stop on Friday, November 13, 2026, halted U.S. air travel for over four hours after an aging air traffic control system became overloaded with data, leading to more than 9,000 commercial flight cancellations and widespread weekend disruptions. A lot of people have lost their lugggage, missed important family flights, and slept on the floors of airports.  Such an experience hadn't happened since 9/11.  


Resource:
https://www.l3harris.com/company/leadership


 stop out of an abundance of caution

Friday the 13th For Jews Means What?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

A Jewish boy automatically becomes a bar mitzvah on his 13th Hebrew birthday by Jewish law, regardless of whether a ceremony is held. However, the formal synagogue celebration typically happens on a day when the Torah is publicly read—such as Saturday morning (Shabbat), Monday, Thursday, or certain Jewish holidays—rather than Friday.                                      

While Friday evening (Erev Shabbat) is the start of Shabbat, a full public Torah reading does not take place during the Friday night service. Some congregations do include a Friday night component where the boy helps lead specific prayers, presents or receives a tallit (prayer shawl), or participates in a service, but the primary call to the Torah (aliyot) and chanting traditionally happens on Saturday morning or on a weekday morning when the Torah is read.

So, at the age of 13, a Friday being the 13th of that month means nothing to the boy.  It is a special month for his 13th birthday.  

                             Wars Starting on Friday 13th

But....Yes, the Twelve-Day War between Israel and Iran began on Friday, June 13, 2025. Additionally, in Jewish history and tradition, major battles were fought on the 13th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, though Judaism operates on a lunisolar calendar and does not attach superstition to the Western "Friday the 13th."  The Twelve-Day War (June 13, 2025). Israel launched Operation Rising Lion in the early morning hours of Friday, June 13, 2025. Over 200 Israeli fighter jets struck Iranian nuclear facilities, ballistic missile sites, and military leadership, sparking a 12-day war that concluded with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on June 24.

2026 Iran War Escalation (March 13, 2026). While the broader 2026 conflict began in February, significant military escalations—including heavy exchanges of fire and the loss of a U.S. military aircraft—occurred on Friday, March 13, 2026.  Notable Jewish Battles on the 13th or a Friday
The Battle of Purim (13th of Adar). In the biblical Book of Esther, the Jews of the Persian Empire fought to defend themselves against Haman's decree on the 13th day of the Hebrew month of Adar. Because this date follows the lunar-solar Hebrew calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, its day of the week changes every year. 
The Day of Nicanor (13th of Adar, 161 BCE). During the Maccabean Revolt, Judah Maccabee defeated the Seleucid general Nicanor at the Battle of Adasa on the 13th of Adar. This victory was historically celebrated as a minor festival in Judea.
1948 Arab–Israeli War (Friday, May 14, 1948). David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel on a Friday, just one day after the 13th. Neighboring Arab armies invaded the following day, Saturday, May 15, which is the Jewish Shabbat.  
Cultural Context
No Superstition in Judaism. The fear of Friday the 13th is a Western, Gregorian-calendar superstition that does not exist in Jewish tradition. In fact, the number 13 is traditionally viewed as auspicious in Judaism, corresponding to the age of a Bar Mitzvah and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. 

So where does Friday the 13th get such a superstition?

Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. For the 13th to fall on Friday, a month's first day must be a Sunday.origins.  

Unluckiness of 13

One source mentioned for the unlucky reputation of the number 13 is a Norse myth about twelve gods having a dinner party in Valhalla. The trickster god Loki, who was not invited, arrived as the thirteenth guest, and arranged for Höðr, the god of darkness, to shoot Balder, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died, triggering much suffering in the world, which caused the number 13 to be considered unlucky.^[1][2]

Christian associations

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci,picture of a Passover of the 1st night. 

The superstition seems to relate to various things, like the story of Jesus's Last Supper and crucifixion in which there were thirteen individuals present in the Upper Room on the thirteenth of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.  Interestingly enough, this pictured :The Last Supper was held during the Jewish holiday of Passover (Pesach).

According to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), the meal was celebrated as a Passover Seder on the first night of the festival (Nisan 15), just before Jesus was crucified on Good Friday. (Note that the Gospel of John places the timing slightly differently, aligning the crucifixion with the slaughter of the Passover lambs.  After all, Jesus was said in their Christian literature to have been Jewish.  

So for a Jewish boy, hopefully past 13, though at 13 he is When a Jewish boy turns 13, he reaches the age of a Bar Mitzvah (which translates to "son of the commandment") and becomes a full-fledged adult under Jewish law (halakhah). 

Key Rights and Responsibilities at Age 13:

Religious and Moral Accountability: Responsibility for observing the commandments (mitzvot) of the Torah shifts from his parents to the boy himself. He is now held personally accountable for his own moral and religious choices.
Wearing Tefillin: He begins wearing tefillin (leather-strapped boxes containing Torah passages used during weekday morning prayers) on a daily basis. 
Participating in a Minyan: He can be counted as part of a minyan—the quorum of 10 Jewish adults required for communal prayer services.
Leading Services and Reading the Torah: He is permitted to lead prayer services, be called up to the bimah to recite the blessings over the Torah (aliyah), and read from the Torah or Haftarah in the synagogue.
Community Roles: In traditional Jewish law, turning 13 also marks the age where he can legally testify as a witness in a religious court or take on other adult community obligations.


But in most states, a child has to be 16 to drive a car, so don't get over-excited, kids.  


Resource:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/bar-and-bat-mitzvah-101/

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