Former JUF Chairman of the Board David T. Brown, leader of the national France solidarity mission, stands in front of the Hyper Cacher supermarket, where four French Jews were killed in a terrorist attack Jan. 9.

A group of Jewish leaders representing 18 communities throughout North America, including nine from Chicago, traveled to Paris on a solidarity mission organized by the Jewish Federations of North America on Feb. 8.

On Sunday, participants visited the historic Victoire Synagogue and the Hyper Cacher Market, met with France’s Chief Rabbi and received briefings from security experts and the French Jewish community leadership. They also met with two survivors of the Hyper Cacher attack.

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On Monday, the last day of the two-day mission, they met with civic and government leaders to share their concerns about the rise in violent attacks against Jews.

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There are between 500,000 and 600,000 Jews living in France, 2,000 of who live in the suburbs of Paris, in close proximity to some of France’s most radical Muslims. France has the largest population of Jews in Europe as well as the largest population of Muslims in Europe. The rise in French anti-Semitism and terrorism has led to thousands of French Jews leaving the country. Immigration rates to Israel, for example, were a record high in 2014, with 7,000 French Jews making aliyah. Those numbers are expected to rise in 2015.

Former Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago Chairman of the Board David T. Brown, who currently serves as chair of Jewish Federations of North America’s global operations: Israel and overseas council, led the mission.

“Am Echad—we are one people with one destiny,” Brown said. “Jews need to take care of other Jews and support them wherever they may be.”

Chicago participants in the mission included JUF Board members Caryn Adelman, Brown and Bill Silverstein (current JUF Board Chairman); community members Gita Berk, Richard Biller, Marc Sacks and Brad Schneider; and JUF Executive Vice President Jay Tcath.

Schneider, a former Illinois congressman, wrote a personal reflection on his experience for The Times of Israel.