KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — Holocaust survivors gathered in Krakow on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz amid unease regarding the safety of Jews in Europe.

Some 300 survivors from 19 countries — each with a child, grandchild or companion — are expected to attend official ceremonies on Tuesday at the site of the former concentration camp in Oswiecim. The journeys of the guests — most of them in their 80s and 90s – were sponsored by the World Jewish Congress and the USC Shoah Foundation.

Ronald Lauder, president of the WJC, is to address the ceremony, which was organized by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the International Auschwitz Council. Among the thousands of expected guests are state leaders as well as film director Steven Spielberg, founding chair of the Shoah Foundation, Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban and others.

In Germany, where International Holocaust Remembrance Day events and ceremonies were to be held across the country, Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said Monday that Jews would always remember the Holocaust, but that non-Jews in Germany had a duty to remember, teach and learn about it.

“At the same time, unfortunately, the threat to Jews around the world has increased,” Schuster added, alluding to the recent terrorist attack in the Paris kosher supermarket in which four hostages were killed. “Attacks by extremist Muslims have become an increased danger to the Jewish community. We must not turn a blind eye.”

For the second consecutive year, Chicago’s Jewish and African-American communities stood shoulder to shoulder at a Baptist church, which was once a prominent West Side synagogue, for a rousing tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Entitled “Am I My Brother’s Keeper? Strengthening the Bonds between the African-American and Jewish Communities,” the Jan. 19 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day program answered that question with a resounding “yes.” Leaders from both communities gave stirring speeches about the continued need to help one another and build on Dr. King’s vision.

“We did not come here just to have a celebration of life, we came here to reignite the dream of a man who was a dreamer,” said Bishop Derrick M. Fitzpatrick, pastor at Stone Temple Baptist Church, which hosted the morning’s event.

The church, which for the first half of the 20th century was home to First Romanian Jewish Congregation, co-sponsored the event along with the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, The Firehouse Community Arts Center, Sinai Health System and the North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society.

In welcoming attendees, JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council Chairman Skip Schrayer introduced the theme that was echoed throughout the program. “Dr. King asked us to look out for our fellow man, to be our brother’s keeper, and to join with him in the pursuit of full equality and justice for all humankind,” Schrayer said. “Today as we reflect on his life and legacy, we must acknowledge that this work is not yet complete.” (Watch a video of his remarks.)

Other speakers included musician and motivational speaker Taylor Moore, Rabbi Wendi Geffen of North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe, Congressman Danny K. Davis, State Representative Art Turner Jr., and Maury Fertig, grandson of March on Washington speaker Rabbi Uri Miller.

Fertig reflected on his grandfather, saying he was a “fighter for peace, justice, and equality for all people,” and who spoke from the pulpit about collective responsibility for one’s fellow man and against segregation. Fertig referenced the Jewish community’s historical connection to North Lawndale as he reflected on the fact that “today, here we meet, 95 years later on the same street where my grandfather began his journey that would take him to Washington and where he would play a part in the Civil Rights Movement.” (Watch a video of his remarks.)

In her remarks Rabbi Geffen asked “what does it mean to be each other’s keeper? And how do we act as such in our world today?” Saying that we must reaffirm the strong relationship that existed between African Americans and Jews during the Civil Rights Movement, Geffen urged, “there is so much more we can do together, and there has not been a better moment in the last 50 years for us to come together and dream of what is possible.” Geffen closed saying, “Because not one of us is free until every last one of us is free, let us work together, my brothers and my sisters. We are each other’s keepers.” (Watch a video of her remarks.)

Moore, an award-winning jazz percussionist in her 20s who has shared her message with groups since she was a teenager, followed Geffen’s rousing words with a powerful sermon on the theme for the program. “Are we our brother’s keeper? Yes we are!” Moore implored, “when we are our brother’s keeper, we can speak life into our brother, we can encourage our brother, we can love our brother.'”

Among the speeches were songs performed by the Praetorium Signing Church Choir and Shanka and Brian Pettis. Jasmine Tanksley, 14, a member of Stone Temple Baptist Church and a ninth grade student at Michelle Clark School, also shared her thoughts on Dr. King.

Prior to the event, volunteers from both communities took part in a special service project, preparing and serving hot breakfast to more than 100 members of Stone Temple Church and the Lawndale community.

“I think it’s important for the entire community, not just the Jewish community, to get together and realize that we’re one,” said TOV volunteer Joyce Leviton Asher.

North Lawndale is a historically special place for both African-Americans and Jews in Chicago. The community was once known as “Chicago’s Jerusalem,” seeing the likes of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, musician Benny Goodman and businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, for whom JUF’s prestigious Julius Rosenwald Memorial Award is named. It was also where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived in the late 1960s during his affordable housing campaign.

Bishop Fitzpatrick gave volunteers tours of the church, highlighting the Jewish elements that have been preserved throughout the building. TOV volunteer and Gold Coast resident Bob Mednick, who lived a couple miles from North Lawndale growing up, called the experience “nostalgic” and said he was impressed with how the former synagogue, along with much of the area, has been maintained.

“With all the things going on in the world that are discouraging, this is heartening,” he said.

The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago today closed its 2014 Annual Campaign – the largest element in a communal fundraising effort that supports essential human services throughout Chicago and around the world – at $82,097,228, plus $9,694,035 for its Israel Emergency Campaign.

Overall, JUF/Federation’s multi-pronged fundraising effort last year mobilized $198,776,263 in resources to uplift the local and global Jewish community, support basic human needs, create Jewish experiences and strengthen Jewish community connections. Through its network of more than 70 vital social service agencies and programs, JUF transforms the lives of 300,000 Chicagoans of all faiths, and provides humanitarian assistance to 2 million Jews in Israel and around the world.

Examples include the delivery of more than half a million meals and other food assistance to local Jews; emergency financial assistance to 3,755 households; scholarship aid to 70 percent of local Jewish day school students; food, medicine, home care, and other necessities for 144,354 Jewish seniors and 26,308 impoverished children in the former Soviet Union, including embattled Ukraine; and services to assist the integration of 24,648 immigrants into Israeli society.

In addition to the Annual Campaign, JUF raises funds through bequests, the Centennial Campaign, corporate partnerships, donations to emergency relief efforts, donor advised funds, support foundations and other sources. As a major funder of human services addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations in Illinois, the Federation also receives significant grants – totaling nearly $15 million in 2014 – from government and foundations, and is a beneficiary of the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

“Once again we see just how incredibly generous and committed Chicago’s Jewish community is,” said 2014 Campaign Chair Lee I. Miller. “This marked the fifth year in a row since the recession that the Annual Campaign has increased over the previous year. But the real measure of success isn’t the number of dollars raised. It is how effectively those dollars are used, and the impact they have on the lives of thousands of individuals and families in need. That’s the difference we, as a community, make.”

“It is remarkable,” Board Chairman Bill Silverstein said, “that despite all the monumental changes and challenges that have occurred in the world over more than a century, JUF still is doing what it was created to do 115 years ago – help the hungry, the hurting and those most in need; strengthen our community; do our part to repair the world. We are passionate about that. And we are humbled that the community places such high trust in us to make that happen.”

“The success of JUF’s 2014 Annual Campaign speaks to the fantastic commitment and energy of its chair, Lee Miller; the End-of-Year chairs, Josh Herz and Martha Davidson; and all the other volunteers and staff who made it possible,” President Steven B. Nasatir said. “But it is the difference their efforts make in so many lives that speaks loudest to me and, I am sure, to each of them.”

Numbers tell the story

In 2014, in addition to the examples cited above, through JUF-supported agencies and programs, Chicago’s Jewish community made it possible for 26,619 people to get free or highly subsidized mental or physical healthcare; 5,564 seniors to stay in their homes rather than having to move to institutionalized care; 1,162 impoverished Jews to receive essential prescription medication; 1,228 children with disabilities to get intensive therapeutic services and education; and nearly 900 professionals to find jobs.

Countless Jewish experiences were sparked as 22,299 children engaged in JUF-supported formal and informal learning programs; 1,549 went to Jewish summer camp with scholarships; 6,317 families shared the joy of free Jewish books and music from JUF’s PJ Library; 638 got tuition aid that helped them start their child’s Jewish early childhood education; and 648 teens learned to be leaders through JUF programs.

Innovation also got a big boost as 17 visionary initiatives that meet local Jewish needs and engage community members Jewishly received grants from JUF’s Breakthrough Fund.

Since 2008, JUF scholarships and subsidies for Jewish early childhood programming grew by 300 percent, emergency assistance dollars provided by JUF agencies grew by nearly 400 percent, the number of free prescriptions filled grew by nearly 700 percent, and the number of people receiving free or subsidized health care more than doubled.

Internationally, JUF’s overseas programs helped 19,800 Jews from across the globe begin new lives of freedom in Israel; new immigrants received assistance with housing, Hebrew, employment and socialization; and some 12,000 at-risk Israeli youth and family members received scholastic and emotional support.

As rockets fell throughout Israel last summer, JUF launched the Israel Emergency Campaign, which provided meals, supplies, activity kits and special equipment to 180,000 seniors, people with disabilities and other vulnerable and shelter-bound Israelis. Some 81,000 children got a break from the explosions and fear when they were taken on respite trips, or to safe summer camps or youth village programs. And 27,000 Israelis living under fire received trauma support.

“In the simplest terms, the agencies we support and the programs we provide in Chicago, Israel and around the world are the conduit between those who need help and those who can provide it,” Nasatir said. “The fuel for all of those efforts comes from the tens of thousands who support the Annual Campaign.”

During a trip to Israel in 2001, Sara Crown Star found herself a witness to the aftermath of a suicide bombing where 15 civilians were killed, including seven children and a pregnant woman, and 130 were wounded.

She sat on the doorsteps of her Jerusalem hotel, watching 90 ambulances drive to the bombsite, counting whether the 120 members of her group returned safely. In the face of such a tragedy, she told herself how important it was to do something to strengthen the Jewish community at home, in Israel and around the world.

Since then, Star has devoted herself to serving the local Jewish community and Israel. This year, she is taking on one of the largest annual fundraising efforts in the country as chair of the 2015 Annual Campaign of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago. The recently concluded 2014 Campaign raised more than $82 million.

Star chaired the extremely successful 2014 Advance and Major Gifts Campaign and currently serves on the JUF Board. She also serves on the JUF Executive Committee and is a Trustee of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago

JUF is devoted to mobilizing the resources to uplift the global and local Jewish communities, supporting basic needs, creating Jewish experiences and strengthening Jewish community connections. The Annual Campaign is the core support for JUF services, providing the largest source of funds for a vital network of more than 70 programs and agencies whose services benefit over 300,000 Chicagoans of all faiths, and more than 2 million Jews in Israel and worldwide.

“We are thrilled to have Sara at the helm of our 2015 Annual Campaign,” said JUF President Steven B. Nasatir. “She is a dynamic community leader who is bringing great passion, creativity and commitment to this role.”

“I feel honored to be working with JUF because of its ability to do so much for so many,” Star said. “JUF works to strengthen the next generation of Jews and build a strong Jewish future. If there is a need at home or halfway across the world, JUF is there. This is possible is because our Chicagoland community is willing to work together.”

Star is a community leader who is active in numerous non-profit and charitable organizations with particular interests in early childhood education, medical research, health care, and philanthropy.

Following her graduation from the Wexner Heritage Program for transformative Jewish leadership, Star has become a major contributor to the American Jewish community. In addition to her positions at JUF, Star has served as a governor for Hebrew Union College, the leading institution responsible for training the next generation of Reform clergy, and currently sits on their President’s Council. Star serves as a director of Crown Family Philanthropies. She also travels to Israel annually in her role as a director of the Crown Family Foundation to review anti-poverty, medical science, and educational initiatives.

In education, Star serves on the boards of the Erikson Institute for Early Childhood Education and the Latin School of Chicago, where she is a senior trustee. She serves on the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University Law Center where she created the Bazelon Fellowship for Georgetown graduates to work at the Bazelon Mental Health Center. In 2014, Star received the Georgetown Women’s Forum Law Alumnae Award.

Star has a keen interest in medical research and is working with leading scientists to bring cutting edge medical technologies to market. She was a founding member of the University of Illinois’ Craniofacial Center Board and currently serves on the Health and Human Services Committee of Crown Family Philanthropies.

Star enjoys theater and dance. In 2013/14, she co-produced “Handle With Care,” an off-Broadway show in New York City and The New York Times’ Critics’ Pick, which is now playing in regional theatres across the country. She was also runner-up in a 2013 “Dancing with the Stars” competition organized to raise funds for Giordano Dance Chicago.

Star graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She formerly practiced law in New York City and Chicago, specializing in real estate and estate planning. She and her husband, James, live in Chicago and have three children in college. They are members of Temple Sholom and Am Yisrael.

On January 14, some 250 gathered at the Chicago Loop Synagogue to commemorate the deaths of Jewish and other victims of the January 2015 anti-Semitic attacks in Paris. (Watch a video of the full service)

“Together, we mourn the 17 innocent lives lost last week in the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families and loved ones, and we share in their grief,” said Skip Schrayer, chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, which convened the Community Memorial Program for Victims of Paris Terror Attacks.

Steven B. Nasatir, president of JUF, issued a “call for solidarity” in his remarks to theattendees. He recalled visiting the Don Isaac Abravanel synagogue in Paris last July, “which two days before had been attacked by a vicious mob armed with steel rods and knives, chanting ‘Death to the Jews,’” as well as the murders at a Jewish school in France in 2012.
(Watch a video of Nasatir’s speech)

“For too long, too many people chose to ignore…the signs of a threat faced not just by Jews but by the democracies of the world, with our belief in freedom,” Nasatir said. “It is the threat posed by the growing groups of violent Islamist extremists, the ideology they espouse, and the followers they attract.” He said that marches like the “breathtaking” one in Paris January 11 were “important expressions of solidarity” and were appreciated. But, he wondered, “Will they mark a turning point in the war against Islamist terror, inspiring…greater understanding from governments and citizens of what is at stake?” He closed by praying for a New Year with “no more memorial events.”

Jewish, Muslim and Catholic clergy also spoke. Rabbi Yona Reiss, Chief Judge of the Rabbinic Court of the Chicago Rabbinic Council, read Psalm 121, and said, “We honor the victims… by our commitment to freedom.”

Imam Hazim Fazlic of the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago and professor at Lake Forest College, offered a Muslim prayer. He then said that the idea that the terror attacks were part of a struggle between one “religion, civilization, or culture” against another was false, but that the battle was between “evil terrorists and humanity.”

Father Thomas Baima, Vicar for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of Chicago, read Psalm 91. He then relayed the words of Pope Francis, who upon learning of the attacks, called them “cruel” and denounced all terrorism, “isolated or state-sponsored.” The Pope said that he would pray for the victims, but also “for those who are cruel, so that the Lord may change their hearts.”

Rabbi Stanley Kroll, of the Chicago Loop Synagogue, which hosted the event, referred to the terrorists as “cowards,” and “anti-Semites who reject freedom,” striking with “the hand of pure evil.” Those who “inject violence” into society, he said, “will not succeed.” He noted that in addition to those killed, there were also 11 injured, and he prayed for their recovery. “Am Yisrael Chai,” he said, “Vive la France.”

Rabbi Shoshana Conover of Temple Sholom, read “The Diameter of a Bomb,” a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. Cantor Steven Stoehr, Congregation Beth Shalom, sang a traditional Jewish prayer of mourning, “El Ma’ale Rachamim (God, Full of Mercy).”

JUF President Dr. Steven B. Nasatir addresses attendees at the Jan. 14 memorial program. (Photo by Robert F. Kusel )

Also in attendance were leaders of Chicago’s diverse faith communities: Executive Vice President of the Chicago Board of Rabbis Rabbi Michael Balinsky, Reverend Stanley Davis, Reverend Paul Rutgers, Reverend Larry Greenfield, Father Don Senior, and Ms. Barbara Abrajano— all representing the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago— and Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid of the Parliament of the World Religions.

Balwant Singh Hansra of the Sikh Religious Society was unable to attend, but forwarded a letter which read: “On behalf of the Sikh Community of Greater Chicago, we express our heartfelt sympathies to you… and we condemn this brutal killing. Our sincere condolences to the bereaved. …we stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.”

Civic and diplomatic leaders in attendance included Roey Gilad, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, staff from Governor Bruce Rauner and Congressman Bob Dold’s offices, Alderman Michele Smith, and former Congressman Brad Schneider.

Reflections on the attacks were also offered by François Pellerin, Deputy Consul General of France in Chicago. “France— its values and its citizens— were attacked,” The attack was against “journalists for expressing themselves… and Jews because they were Jews,” he said. He noted that France has the largest Jewish population of any European nation, and that Jews have been “part of the fabric of France… for centuries.” He also thanked the Jewish community of Chicago and said that the rallies in Chicago echoed those in France, at which French citizens held banners reading “Je Suis Juif” (I am Jewish).

David Benkemoun, a young professional from Paris working in Chicago, and Natalie Braun, a Chicagoan who has studied at the Lycée Français de Chicago, read the names of the victims of the January 7-9 attacks. The victims included 12 staff members of the Charlie Hebdo magazine, four hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris, and a Paris police officer attempting to apprehend one of the magazine-attack terrorists.

“When your country is shaken to its roots, and your loved ones are afraid for their lives, and you are far away, you feel alone,” Benkemoun said. He thanked those in attendance for helping him alleviate that feeling: “Thank you. Todah. Merci.”

Donations to JUF’s French Terror and Security Fund— to be given to the families of the victims and to help increase security at Jewish institutions in France— can be made here: https://donate.juf.org/Condolences.

Following last week’s terrorist assaults in Paris, the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has opened an emergency “French Terror and Security Fund” to aid the French Jewish community and others. JUF/Federation has made the first contribution of $100,000 to the fund.

Community members may visit the JUF website at https://donate.juf.org/Condolences to donate.

The fund will aid the families of the four Jews murdered at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket on Friday, Jan. 9, from funeral and burial costs in Israel to trauma relief and financial support to the victims’ families.

In concert with other French and American non-profits, the French Terror and Security Fund also will assist the families of the murdered staff members of the Charlie Hebdo magazine, two of whom were Jewish.

Additionally, the fund will help synagogues and other Jewish institutions in France address their many millions of dollars in increased security costs. French philanthropists and the institutions themselves have committed to raise 80 percent of these security costs, and the American Jewish community has pledged to absorb the remaining 20 percent.

Enhancing the French Jewish community’s resiliency capacity—its ability to respond to future attacks—also is a priority.

This latest murderous anti-Semitic attack has further heightened interest in aliyah (emigration to Israel) for the nearly 500,000 Jews of France. Support for such aliyah, while always generously provided by the JUF Annual Campaign, will be enhanced by the new fund at a time when accelerated aliyah from France already is occurring, and much more is anticipated.

In response to the wave of anti-Semitism that has swept across Europe, especially France, in recent years, a record-breaking 7,000 French Jews immigrated to Israel in 2014, double the 3,400 who made the move in 2013 and triple the 1,900 who did so in 2012.

As its policy, JUF/Federation will absorb any administrative costs of this emergency relief effort so that 100% of collected donations directly support needs on the ground.

The fund will operate in cooperation with the Jewish Federations of North America, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the French Jewish community.

In addition, the Jewish Federation will host a Community Memorial Program for the Victims of the Paris Terror Attacks at noon Wednesday, Jan. 14, at The Loop Synagogue, 16 S. Clark St., Chicago. To ensure seating and security, please register.

The Jewish Federation also has opened a condolence page for Chicago community members to express their sympathies to the French Jewish community. Comments may be submitted here.

The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago has issued the following statement in the wake of this week’s terror attacks in Paris. Learn about JUF’s “French Terror and Security Fund” and donate here.

At the end of a week of terror and sorrow, today we join with the people of France, with France’s Jewish community, and with all people of conscience, in crying out in pain and protest at the savage attacks that have taken the lives of at least 17 citizens. We mourn the dead, offer condolences to their loved ones, and pray for the recovery of the injured.

The related attacks in Paris on the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket today and on the Charlie Hebdo magazine on Wednesday, underscore the extreme threat to civilized society posed by terrorists who murder in the name of Islam. The assault on employees and customers at a kosher shop in a Jewish neighborhood in Paris is but the latest example of increased, violent anti-Semitism in Europe.

As we prepare to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, the worldwide Jewish community calls on all peoples to be vigilant. We know all too well that a direct line can be drawn between hate speech, radical ideologies, and assaults on innocents such as we now witness with alarming regularity. A rapid rise in attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in France, across Europe and even in the United States, sounds the alarm for people of all backgrounds and faiths: prejudice and intolerance targeting any one group threaten us all, and shake the very foundations of our society.

We stand in solidarity with the French Jewish community, and will continue to work diligently in our own community to defend our cherished freedoms. We call upon all echelons of society—including faith and civic leaders—to break the cycle of incitement, radicalization and hate that leads to acts of violence and terror.

JUF has created a condolence page for the Chicago community members to express their sympathies to the French Jewish community. A community memorial service for the victims will be held at noon Wednesday, Jan. 14, at Chicago Loop Synagogue, 16 S. Clark St., Chicago. To ensure security and seating, please register.

All hostage takers are dead, and their hostages are being freed after simultaneous raids on the two sites in Paris, one a kosher supermarket, attacked by terrorists today.

It is not clear how many casualties there are, but at least two people in addition to the hostage takers are reported dead.

The hostage situation began at 1 p.m. Friday at Hyper Cacher, a kosher supermarket near Porte de Vincennes in Paris’ 12th arrondissement, at a time when the store is usually full of Jewish shoppers preparing for Shabbat, Chlomik Zenouda, vice president of the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism said.

French police set up a security perimeter around the supermarket, where eight to 12 people, including at least one child, were being held hostage.

AFP, the French news service, said two people are reported dead. Zenouda confirmed the report.

Witnesses said the shots were fired from an automatic assault rifle. The shooter then retreated into the supermarket, witnesses said. One person was injured in the shooting, and French media later reported that at least two people died at the scene, although this has not yet been confirmed by France’s interior ministry. According to the online edition of the Le Point daily, the two fatalities were hostages.

French police simultaneously negotiated with two men who were holding hostages in a printing shop north of Paris. The men identified themselves as Cherif and Saidf Kouachi, brothers in their 30s whom French police named as the shooters in an attack Wednesday on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly that had come under attack by Islamists for its publication of items deemed offensive to Islam.

According to the Dutch Het Parool daily, police sources in France said the hostage takers at the kosher supermarket were in contact with the brothers. Reuters reported police had received threats that the hostages in the kosher shop would be killed if the brothers were harmed.

According to unnamed police sources, there is evidence linking the person responsible for the crisis at the kosher shop to the slaying of a Paris police officer Thursday by a man who shot her and another state employee with an AK-47.

The killer in the Montrouge attack shot the officer and wounded another person after his vehicle was involved in an accident, French media reported. He then fled the scene.

Reports said police have released photos of two people wanted in the shooting of the police officer: a man, Amedy Coulibaly, 32, and a woman, Hayat Boumeddiene.

Relatives of some of the people being held hostage at the kosher shop arrived at the scene during the standoff but were prevented from approaching, Alain Azria, a French Jewish journalist who was at the scene, told JTA. Among the hostages were one woman and her daughter, he said. The girl’s father was forced to wait behind the police line for over an hour, he said.

Police locked down schools in the vicinity. Authorities in the 4th Arrondissement said that police had ordered shops to close on the rue de Rosiers, a Jewish area where shoppers tend to proliferate in the hours before Shabbat.

The terrorists involved in the various attacks were followers of Djamel Beghal, a charismatic Islamist, Le Monde reported.

JCC PresenTense Chicago, one of the region’s premier entrepreneurship programs, is pleased to present its 2015 Fellowship Cohort at a free community-wide kick-off event from 6-8 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 11 at Anshe Emet Synagogue, 3751 N. Broadway.

This casual event will include complimentary dinner, refreshments, whiskey tasting by Koval Distillery and presentations by PresenTense Group CEO Naomi Korb Weiss and keynote speaker Lisa Nigro,Founder of Inspiration Corporation and recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal. Those interested in entrepreneurship, venture capitalism or discovering new connections and ideas are invited to network with our 2015 PresenTense Cohort and affiliates and hear how their ideas will impact Chicago, and the world.

A largely volunteer-run community of entrepreneurs, mentors, coaches and Advisory Board members, JCC PresenTense Chicago is commencing its fourth year of fostering innovation by tapping into the talents and energy of everyday professionals. Over an intensive six-month program, Fellows work to develop their ideas into sustainable businesses.

“As both manager of the program and a past Fellow, I know that a supportive community of bold thinkers can change the status quo, improve the quality of life in Chicago and impact the world,” said Becky Adelberg, JCC PresenTense Chicago manager.

The 2015 Fellowship Cohort includes 14 entrepreneurs: Yoni Pruzansky, Rabbi Dan Rosenberg, Joseph Prosnitz, Becky Levinson, Naomi Konikoff, Amy Gorelow, Rebecca Crystal, Rabbi Barry Cohen, Elena Valentine, Dashell Bark-Huss and Rabbi Heather Altman, Rena Rosen, Metuka Hechtman, and Michelle Mantel.

From dance to literacy to health, the 2015 Fellowship Cohort ventures extend across many areas. Rebecca Crystal’s venture Interfaith in Motion will bring together Jewish and Muslim youth through dance to bridge a cultural gap and foster acceptance. And Joseph Prosnitz, founder of Prosnitz Solutions, is launching a product aimed to allow people with arthritis to enjoy the experience of running without the heavy impact on their joints.

For more information on JCC PresenTense Chicago, visit www.gojcc.org/presentense, or contact Becky at [email protected] or 847.763.3629.

JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council will join the North Lawndale community again this year for a special program honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at 10:30 a.m., Monday, Jan. 19, at Stone Temple Baptist Church, 3622 W. Douglas Blvd.

Entitled “Am I My Brother’s Keeper? Strengthening the bonds between the African-American and the Jewish communities, a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” this year’s program will feature guest speakers Rabbi Wendi Geffen, award-winning jazz percussionist and motivational speaker Taylor Moore, and Maury Fertig, grandson of Rabbi Uri Miller, who spoke at the March on Washington in 1963, among others. Light refreshments will be served after the celebration.

This free event is sponsored by JUF, Stone Temple Baptist Church, The Firehouse Community Arts Center, Sinai Health System and the North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society, and is open to the community. For more information, contact JCRC at [email protected] or (312) 357-4770.