Eighteen JUF donors returned to Chicago on Nov. 20 from a week of meetings in India with political, diplomatic, business and Jewish community leaders.

Chaired by JUF Board member Lee Miller and David Sternberg and accompanied by former U.S. Ambassador and Presidential Special Envoy Marc Grossman, the delegation met with India’s attorney general, secretaries of finance, commerce and foreign affairs, its former ambassador to Israel, members of parliament (including the governing party’s spokeswoman) and senior officials of the country’s leading law firm and global conglomerate, Tata.

“We enjoyed incredible access to Indian leaders,” Miller said, “And, as was the case last year with a similar mission to the U.A.E., our community is indebted to The Cohen Group, who made these arrangements and who made Ambassador Grossman available to us for the week. Marc was an accomplished career diplomat and has become, over the years, a valued friend of JUF.”

Trip highlights also included sessions with Israeli and American Ambassadors at their respective New Delhi embassies, a meeting with the director of JDC-India at the Mumbai JCC and gatherings with recipients of JUF services in their homes.

JUF Chair Bill Silverstein traveled with the delegation and said “it’s always inspiring to connect with fellow Jews all over the globe, and especially so when we can see firsthand the incredible impact our dollars – donated in Chicago – have 8,000 miles away.

“Few of us are aware or often think about the 5,000 Indian Jews who live among India’s 1.2 billion Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims … but we all want to be of whatever help we can to them and it’s gratifying to be able to share with JUF donors that their dollars are being put to extraordinary use,” he said.