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Historic flooding complicates the journey home for Passover vacationers in South Florida
(JTA) — Zachary Ottenstein didn’t expect to bond with his dad over chess and classic rock during his trip home from Florida at the end of Passover.
But when Ottenstein switched his phone on after the holiday ended last night, it blew up: Fort Lauderdale was flooded and flights out of the airport — including their flight to New York — were canceled. The city was underwater after the rainiest day in its history.
He consulted with his dad, Matthew: They had enjoyed their Passover week at a hotel, but they wanted to get home in time for Shabbat the following evening.
“We really didn’t fancy staying another two days and finding a place to stay and food,” he said.
Their story was not unique: Families from across the United States who opt for Passover getaway packages in the Sunshine State found themselves stranded in Fort Lauderdale after the rains Thursday. Travelers to the airport reported seeing the headlights of cars sitting deep in water, accumulating since about a month’s worth of rain fell in an hour on Wednesday.
Traditionally observant Jews, who don’t drive or fly in planes on Shabbat, faced the prospect of either making it home before Friday at sundown, or spending at least two more days — until Saturday at nightfall — in the Fort Lauderdale area, without the institutional infrastructure that had enabled their Passover vacations.
At first, the Ottensteins looked for other flights, expanding the radius outward from Fort Lauderdale with each search. Finally, they found a barely workable option.
“There were no flights really other than one flight out of Tampa that was going to Chicago and from there, there was a flight to New York,” Ottenstein said.
They booked the flight, rented a car, left Fort Lauderdale at 10:30 p.m. and rolled into Tampa at 3 a.m. — right in time for the 5 a.m. flight to Chicago.
Others opted to stay down south for Shabbat. Mendel Fayershteyn, a Chabad rabbi in the city, put out the word in the community that he was ready to assist any families stranded at the airport.
As it turns out, there were a handful — about six or seven, he said in an interview — and he delivered kosher meals to them and found homes for them to stay in through Sunday, when the airport is expected to be back to capacity. One of the homes was his own — he decamped to his in-laws’ and handed the keys of his house to one of the airport families.
The relief he administered to the stranded Jews, Fayershteyn said, was mostly psychological.
“It was more like, people were panicking, it wasn’t like an emergency,” he said in an interview. “I would say it was more therapeutic just for the people to hear it’s going to be OK.”
Fayershteyn learned to coordinate relief during years of hurricane seasons: He put that experience to use, gathered generators and kosher food, and helped people find shelter. He also helped reunite people with cars that had floated away in the flooding.
“The main thing we were doing today is just helping people getting their cars back,” he said.
As soon as Passover ended on Thursday night, Fayershteyn got the word out on Facebook that he was offering help to Shabbat-observant Jews.
“Stay safe, and if you are in need of assistance please don’t hesitate to reach out,” the message said. “Hot Shabbat meals going out tomorrow for those that need, please DM us.”
Ottenstein also took to Facebook, posting a selfie of himself and his dad in the car after midnight. “What do you do when Fort Lauderdale airport gets closed and you want to get home for shabbos?” he wrote. “Obviously you drive through the night to Tampa to make an early morning flight home.”
Ottenstein, 24, a schoolteacher on Staten Island, and his dad, 60, a law librarian in suburban New Rochelle, filled the time up.
“The world chess championships are going on and my dad’s been very into it. He can talk for hours about that type of thing,” he said. “And we bond a lot over music. My dad’s a big 60s, 70s classic rock kind of guy.”
Zachary did the driving. “My dad doesn’t like driving at night,” he said. “No bathroom breaks, no stopping for food. The adrenaline kicked in. It was the kind of plan that was so crazy, it worked.”
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The post Historic flooding complicates the journey home for Passover vacationers in South Florida appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas
Abdul El-Sayed, a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, said in an interview aired Sunday that the Israeli government is as “evil” as Hamas, sharpening his criticism of Israel in the closely-watched Democratic primary.
“Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil,” El-Sayed told CNN congressional reporter Manu Raja on the network’s Inside Politics program. “It’s not how evil is this one versus that one — Hamas: Evil, Israeli government: Evil. We can say both.”
El-Sayed, 41, is a physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants. He is seeking to channel the energy of the 2024 Uncommitted movement, which protested the Biden administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas in Gaza. He is also hoping to build on the surprise success of the New York City mayoral campaign of Zohran Mamdani in taking on the Democratic establishment.
He is locked in a dead heat with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Rep. Haley Stevens. The primary is set for Aug. 4.
Earlier this month, El-Sayed faced backlash for appearing alongside streamer Hasan Piker, who has been accused of antisemitic rhetoric — including saying that Hamas “is a thousand times better” than Israel. McMorrow, who is married to a Jewish man, and Stevens, who is closely aligned with AIPAC, have both criticized El-Sayed.
In the CNN interview, El-Sayed defended his decision to campaign with Piker, framing it as an effort to reach voters who feel alienated from traditional politics. “My understanding of America is, it’s a place where we have freedom of speech,” he said.
#MISen Abdul El-Sayed on CNN Inside Politics: @mkraju: You said Israeli government is evil. Do you think they’re just as evil as Hamas?
El-Sayed: “Yes, killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. It’s not about how evil one is versus the other. Hamas —… pic.twitter.com/4GfJ5oCtqR
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) April 19, 2026
The Michigan Senate race is shaping up as one of the starkest tests of the Democratic coalition and how the party navigates policy towards Israel in Congress amid the wars in Gaza and Iran. The state is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States.
Last week, 40 Senate Democrats voted to block $295 million for the transfer of bulldozers, used by the Israeli military to demolish homes in the West Bank and Gaza; 36 of them also supported a measure to block the sale of 1,000-pound bombs to the Jewish state. It shattered a previous high of 27 Democrats who backed a similar pair of resolutions of disapproval to block some weapons transfers last year.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who is Jewish, was among those who voted for the measures. In remarks as they announced their votes, Democrats highlighted their opposition to the Israeli government’s policies in the occupied West Bank, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the war with Iran.
The post U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan calls Israeli government ‘evil’ like Hamas appeared first on The Forward.
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NYC Mayor Mamdani Unveils Major Tax Hike on Unoccupied Luxury Real Estate
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the New York City Office of Emergency Management, as a major winter storm spreads across a large swath of the United States, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, Jan. 25, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan
i24 News – NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has officially introduced a controversial new tax targeting secondary residences valued at over $5 million.
The measure, designed to tap into the city’s vast concentration of unoccupied luxury wealth, is projected to generate roughly $500 million annually for the municipal budget.
“This tax is specifically aimed at the ultra-rich,” Mamdani stated, highlighting high-profile examples such as Ken Griffin’s $238 million Midtown penthouse and Alexander Varshavsky’s $20.5 million Columbus Circle residence.
While the city has yet to finalize specific evaluation criteria or the methods for distinguishing primary from secondary homes, the proposal has already become a flashpoint for economic debate.
The move has drawn sharp condemnation from billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who argued that the policy is fundamentally flawed.
Ackman contended that owners of luxury secondary residences contribute significant capital to the local economy without utilizing costly municipal services. He warned that the tax would likely trigger a corporate and high-net-worth exodus to low-tax jurisdictions like Miami, ultimately harming the city’s tax base.
President Donald Trump also entered the fray, denouncing the policy as “totally misguided” and claiming it is “destroying New York.” Trump, whose own extensive real estate holdings in the city could be impacted, argued that such taxation serves only to drive away the international investors who fuel New York’s development.
Implementation remains a significant question mark, as the tax could potentially affect nearly 13,000 property owners, including major figures like Jeff Bezos. Financial analysts point out that many of the city’s most expensive apartments are held through complex offshore structures and shell companies, making the identification and appraisal of these properties an immense administrative challenge for the city.
As the debate intensifies, the Mamdani administration faces a difficult path ahead in balancing its “tax the rich” mandate with the practical realities of New York’s competitive global real estate market.
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Iran Rebuffs Trump Announcement of New Peace Talks, State News Agency Reports
Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was sending envoys for talks in Pakistan and would launch new strikes on Iran unless it accepts his terms.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for negotiations, a timetable that would leave only a day for talks to make progress before a two-week ceasefire ends.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited no specific source in its report that Iran had rejected the talks.
“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” IRNA wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Iran’s rejection of the talks.
Earlier, a White House official said the US delegation would be headed by Vice President JD Vance, who led the war’s first peace talks a week ago, and also include Trump’s envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump had initially told ABC News and MS Now that Vance would not go.