Torrential downpours, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes are possible for the tri-state area Monday. The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center upgraded the New York metro area’s severe weather risk Monday to a two of five, meaning a slight risk of severe storms. Any that develop could bring near 60 mph wind gusts and rapid rainfall rates up to 2 inches an hour in spots. Tornadoes are also possible. The same spots that got most saturated last week are at highest risk for flash flooding with Monday’s storm system, meaning everywhere from coastal New Jersey to New York City, which saw wild subway flooding, and parts of Connecticut. The latest round of storms is expected to develop after 2 p.m.

Israel’s Health Ministry informed healthcare providers on Monday that it can start administering COVID booster shots to immunocompromised adults. Israel is the first country in the world to offer a third coronavirus vaccine dose and is doing so prior to the approval of US and European regulators. The ministry instructed health providers to administer the third dose eight weeks after the second dose. Pfizer is meeting with top U.S. health officials on Monday to discuss the drugmaker’s request for federal authorization of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine.

he death toll has reached 94 as operations at the Surfside condo collapse site continue, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a Monday morning news conference. Of the 94 victims, 83 have been identified and 80 families of the deceased have been notified, according to Levine Cava. The mayor said 22 people remain “potentially unaccounted” for with 222 people accounted for. “The process of making identification has become more difficult as time goes on,” the mayor said. “The numbers are fluid and will continue to change,” she said. Video from the site of the collapsed Champlain Towers South taken Sunday night showed crews still digging through the debris, with spotlights illuminating their work.

Russia is grappling with a surge of coronavirus infections since early June, with the number of daily cases increasing from about 9,000 to 23,000 in a month’s time. There’s also been a record spike in deaths, with Russia’s coronavirus task force saying it is due to the spread of the Delta variant. The Jewish community in Moscow has not been spared. A 36-year-old member of the community passed away of the virus on Monday, leaving a wife and four children. Amiel Binyaminov, z’l, grew close to Yiddishkeit in recent years and became an active member of the community. Sadly, a member of the community also passed away of the virus a day earlier, on Sunday. Mr. Michael Gloz, z’l, in his 60s, served as the first president of The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR).

Israel’s longstanding policy of destroying the homes of terrorists raised quite a furor last week following the demolition of the home of Muntassar Shalabi, who murdered yeshivah student Yehuda Guetta, h’yd, 19, and injured two others in a drive-by terror shooting attack on May 2. In addition to the US condemnation of the demolition, it also caused tension within Israel as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett failed to inform Foreign Minister Yair Lapid that the demolition was being carried out, with the latter only hearing about it after the fact, Channel 13 News reported. Following the demolition, officials from Lapid’s office contacted the Prime Minister’s Office complaining that Lapid wasn’t notified as the Foreign Ministry could have tried to soften the US response.

The Union of Zionist Yeshivot and the Hesder Yeshivot Association sent a letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett excoriating him for the decision of Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman to eliminate daycare subsidies for avreichim, Arutz Sheva reported. Although the elimination of daycare subsidies will mainly affect the Chareidi sector, in which almost all men enter Kollel for a period of time after they get married, many members of the Dati Leumi community also learn in kollel after marriage. Furthermore, as the letter notes, learning in kollel, both in the Chareidi and Dati Leumi sectors, frequently leads to paid employment as Rabbanim, teachers, tutors scholars, writers, and translators.

The IDF’s Home Front Delegation assisting the rescue efforts in Surfside returned to Israel over the weekend, with some members leaving on Motzei Shabbos and others on Sunday. A ceremony was held on Motzei Shabbos to thank the members of the delegation for their selfless work, attended by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett, Miami police, fire and rescue services and local residents. Levine Cava presented medals to the members of the delegation and gave the commander of the delegation, Col. Golan Vach, a key to the city as a token of gratitude. As the members of the delegation, holding the Israeli flag, left the site for the last time, they were applauded by city officials, members of the US rescue teams and local residents.

Authorities said Sunday they are making progress in the painstaking search for the victims of a deadly building collapse in Florida last month. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Sunday that 90 deaths have now been confirmed in the collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside, up from 86 a day before. Among them are 71 bodies that have been identified, and their families have been notified, she said. Some 31 people remain listed as missing. Levine Cava also said the unrelenting search amid the rubble has resulted in the recovery of over 14 million pounds of concrete and debris.

Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday ruled that the current law banning same-gender couples and single men from filing surrogacy requests must be repealed within six months. The current Surrogacy Law, which excludes same-gender couples and single men from filing for a surrogacy arrangement, was deemed unconstitutional by the court about a year and a half ago. Last year, the court ruled that the government must amend the law by March 1. The government requested and was granted several extensions to the deadline.

HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky said that Finance Minister Avigdor Leiberman’s plan to eliminate daycare subsidies for avreichim will not harm limmud Torah. However, HaRav Chaim said that Lieberman and others in the government who enabled the decree will not be forgiven, as reported by Yisrael Hayom on Friday. “There’s no forgiveness for whoever harms the children of Israel,” HaRav Chaim said. “Whoever has a part in these gezeiros will sit in Gehinnom.” “The Torah is eternal and these gezeiros won’t stop limmud Torah,” HaRav Chaim continued.