A massive “derecho” collection of several thunderstorms packing gusts of up to 100 miles an hour along a span of 240 miles is in its early stages of formation as storms roll eastward from the Midwest and are expected to bring flooding to the New York and New England area.

The word “derecho” is Spanish for  ”straight,” characterizing the straight-line winds that are forecast to devastate areas where 20 percent of American until Friday.

The potentially massive storm system is a collection of storms that join together, creating a potentially deadly blow from Chicago to Baltimore and possibly into Philadelphia. High winds and heavy rains are predicted for the New York area, particularly eastern Long Island, and along the New England coast.

Last year, a derecho smacked into 11 states and Washington, killing 13 people, downing trees and causing power blackouts and $1 billion in damage.

The storm is 240 miles wide and is expected to travel 50 miles, starting with thunderstorm Wednesday afternoon and evening in northern Illinois, according to AccuWeather.

Tornados are possible.

If the thunderstorms connect, as expected, the system will be in the form of a bow that will develop into a derecho.

One of the worst facets of the derecho is the surprise factor.

Accu Weather advised, “If you will be out and about or have any plans Wednesday afternoon through the night, you will need to pay special attention to the weather as this could be a particularly dangerous situation…

“Keep in mind that lightning is one of Mother Nature’s most dangerous killers. If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning, even if the sun is still shining.”

“It’s a pretty high threat,” said Bill Bunting, operations chief at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. “We don’t want to scare people, but we want them to be aware.”

The storms will move so fast that “by the time you see the dark sky and distant thunder you may have only minutes to get to safe shelter,” Bunting added.

The derecho is not expected to be as savage as previous ones that hit the United States last year, in 2003 and 2006, but damage and flooding might be more extensive.

The “best case” scenario I that the thunderstorms will not connect. “It’s like predicting a large tornado is going to happen. No one can do that. The only thing we can do is say conditions are favorable for one to happen,” said MSNBC meteorologist Bill Karins.

Former Senator Joseph Lieberman has returned to law, acting as senior counsel at the New York office of Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP.

He told the Globes businesses newspaper he expects to be involved in Israel, which he strongly supported during his 24 years as senator.

“The firm has a number of Israel-based clients with significant business interests in the US. I believe that I will be of assistance to these clients and others in Israel in advising them with respect to their expansion initiatives and business plans for the US,” Lieberman said.

Marc Kasowitz, the firm’s founding and managing partner Marc Kasowitz said, “Senator Lieberman’s incredible breadth of knowledge and experience will be a powerful resource.”

Jewish whiskey lovers have scheduled their second annual “Whiskey Jewbilee” for October, after the High Holidays, following last year’s stunning success of the first festival that was arranged after the wider known WhiskeyFest was held on the Sabbath.

Drinking a glass of “schnapps” and saying “L’Chaim” is not a Jewish law or even an ancient tradition, but it has been ingrained in modern Jewish life. There is barely a single Bar Mitzvah, wedding or other “simchah” without whiskey. And on Purim, the corks pop faster than one can drown out “Haman.”

Last year’s WhiskeyFest was held on Friday night Saturday, precluding many observant whiskey lovers from attending.

The relatively new Jewish Whiskey Company staged a  “counter festival” on a week night at a West Side synagogue and drew 250 people, according to The New York Times , and delivered the proof that one can enjoy a whiskey festival and still observe the Sabbath.

Whiskey companies that were not represented at the Jewbilee realized that the WhiskeyFest’s Saturday event cost them customers.

Although whiskeys are often kosher without special procedures, many producers are attracting Jewish drinkers by offering their bottles with kosher supervision.

An estimated 50 percent of former WhiskeyFest events were attended by orthodox Jews, but many of them were drawn last year to the Jewbilee, which is hoping to attract a lot more this year, with a second event in Westchester County.

The Jewish Whiskey Company pushes Jewish identity and uses a watermark of the Star of David on the front of its bottles.

Half of New York voters think that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver should quit because of his actions in the Vito Lopez sex harassment scandal, and 52 percent disapproved of his overall performance, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

Which is a meaningless figure, since Silver continues to be very popular in his district which encompasses the Lower East Side and Lower Manhattan.

The state ethics commission last month issued a report charging that Lopez harassed at least eight female staffers, most of them after Silver approved a secret settlement in return for two of the victims’ promising not to reveal the incidents, The New York Post reported.

Naturally, the Post has been a sworn enemy of Silver, whom they’re yet to associate directly with any wrongdoing.

Lopez finally resigned last month after he faced possible expulsion.

“The Vito Lopez sex scandal persuades a bare majority of New Yorkers that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver should step aside,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “A lot of voters say get rid of the pack of them; there should be a legislative house-cleaning.”

But in a democracy it doesn’t matter what the NY Post thinks (or what Israel Today does, for that matter). Democracy is decided by the voters. And Lower East Siders, especially the local Jewish voters, are sticking with Shelly…

The 5K Run/Walk for Israel, begun in 2001 by the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates Coalition for Israel Action, drew more than 300 runners and 700 participants last week and raised more than $65,000 for a 12-year total of over $800,000.

The 5K event began during the beginning of the first Arab Intifada, and the committee’s goals continue to be to raise consciousness and funds to help Israeli terror victims.

Anthony Weiner’s aide has confirmed that the newest mayoral candidate will attend The Jewish Press’s mayoral forum, making it one of his first public forums.

The Jewish Press newspaper, the largest independent Jewish weekly in America, will be hosting a mayoral forum for the Jewish community, featuring the Democratic candidates for mayor of New York City.

When: Wednesday, May 29 at 8:15 pm

Where: The Manhattan Beach Jewish Center, 60 West End Ave, Brooklyn, NY. Questions for the candidates will touch upon crime, economics, education, among other topics.

Members of the community are invited to submit questions for the candidates by emailing sgreenwald@jewishpress.com (use the Subject line “Mayoral forum”), and The Jewish Press will select the best questions for inclusion in the forum.

Semen Domnister, the former Claims Conference employee who was charged with leading a $57 million fraud scheme at the Holocaust restitution organization, was found guilty Wednesday by a U.S. District Court jury in Manhattan after a four-week trial.

Domnitser and two others, Oksana Romalis and Luba Kramrish, were found guilty on all counts., and 28 others charged in the fraud scheme have pleaded guilty.

“To have it all come to closure is extraordinarily important,” Greg Schneider, the executive vice president of the Claims Conference, told JTA. “We’re obviously very happy that justice has been served, but focus on the needs of Holocaust survivors has always been our main priority.”

The fraud was discovered in 2009 and dated back to 1993. It involved falsifying applications to the Hardship Fund, an account established by the German government to provide one-time payments of approximately $3,360 to those who fled the Nazis as they moved east through Germany, and the Article 2 Fund, through which the German government gives pension payments of approximately $411 per month to needy Nazi victims who spent significant time in a concentration camp, in a Jewish ghetto in hiding or living under a false identity to avoid the Nazis.

Jury deliberations Wednesday took just a few hours.

In a press conference Monday afternoon, Canadian authorities announced that two Al Qaeda linked suspects  – suspects who were directed and supported by al Qaeda in Iran – were arrested Monday morning, April 22.  At least one attack was intended to derail a New York to Toronto passenger train.  The attack was in the planning stage when the suspects were arrested.

Those arrested were described as an Al Qaeda linked-cell which had been engaged in plans for over a year to engage in major terrorist attacks. Their activities had been monitored since August of 2012.  The cross-border operations included the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the FBI and the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security.

In response to questions during the press conference, the Canadian authorities revealed that the terrorists received direction and guidance from Al Qaeda in Iran.  They made clear, however, that there was no evidence of any connection to the Iranian government.

The two suspects arrested are Rahid Jasser and Shahid Esegehr, of Montreal.  Their bail hearing will take place tomorrow in Canada. The two are not Canadian citizens.

“I commend our Canadian counterterrorism partners, particularly the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for their efforts in stopping a major terrorist plot which was intended to cause significant loss of human life including New Yorkers. During my years on the Homeland Security Committee it has been my privilege to work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian intelligence services and all counterterrorism units in Canada,” said Congressman Peter King (R-NY).  King is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Counterintelligence & Terrorism Committee and a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence.