SURFSIDE, Fla. (JTA) — “I’m a Jew, I’m a Jew, I’m a Jew,” Steve Eisenberg tells me. We’re standing in The Shul of Bal Harbour on Sunday, in its social hall under construction. Two days earlier, on Friday evening just before Shabbat, it was piled high with blankets, clothing, mattresses, food and toiletries for the […]

SURFSIDE, Florida (AP) — Crews searching for survivors in the ruins of a collapsed Florida condo tower have built a ramp that should allow the use of heavier equipment, potentially accelerating the removal of concrete that “could lead to incredibly good news events,” the state fire marshal said Wednesday. Since the sudden collapse of the […]

'Once the Israeli teams landed, there was a veritable sigh of relief,' says one community member; volunteers stress they're not just there for the Jewish community, but for all

MIAMI (AP) — Udonis Haslem had one arm draped over the shoulders of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava as they walked slowly toward the Champlain Towers condo collapse memorial site Tuesday. The Miami Heat captain didn’t know what to say. He simply knew he had to say something. “Continue to pray,” he said. Haslem, a […]

SURFSIDE (CHABAD.org) – Benny Weisz, 32, and Malki Weisz, 27, of Lakewood, N.J., had just flown into Surfside, Fla., the night of the Champlain Tower collapse. The couple, married for five years, came to visit Malki’s father, Chaim Rosenberg and spend Shabbat in his new apartment. Benny, a native of Vienna, Austria, is one of […]

SURFSIDE (VINnews) – As anguished family members continue awaiting word of their loved ones, a small amount of comfort emerged from Surfside with the news that a white bunkbed that can be seen in photographs of a ravaged penthouse apartment was likely unoccupied at the time of the collapse. The Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/3dtFu7I) reported that […]

SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — A 92-year-old woman who had lived in a beachside Florida condominium for more than 20 years has been found dead amid the collapsed tower’s rubble, her family said Wednesday. Hilda Noriega had recently put the condo up for sale and was planning to move in with her family. They were notified […]

With 150 people still unaccounted for, state authorities ask federal government to send another rescue team to help scour the site ahead of potential stormy weather

Col. Golan Vach maintains there is still a chance of pulling people out alive from rubble nearly 6 days after disaster; says team built 3D model of site before they flew out

Harry Rosenberg, an observant Jew, had been seeking a new start in Surfside when building fell while he was hosting his daughter and son-in-law, who are also unaccounted for