Chicago Rabbi Meets Parisian Mayor at French Reception

Rabbi Meir Chai Benhiyoun, director of the Chabad-Lubavitch Center for Jewish Life in Downtown Chicago, chatted up Jewish affairs with Mayor Richard M. Daley and the visiting mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, during a private reception at the Chicago French Market.

Delanoe and his deputy mayor, Pierre Schapira, were in the city as participants of the Richard J. Daley Global Cities Forum at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Attended by an estimated 300 people, the reception was hosted by Paris’ Bensidoun family, owners of the market and supporters of Benhiyoun’s Chabad center; Robert Wislow and Camille Julmy of U.S. Equities Realty; Renee Johnson and Brett August of the Paris Committee of Chicago Sister Cities; and Sidy Diallow, acting consul general of France in Chicago.

Delanoe, who had earlier praised the beauty of Chicago after being introduced to the crowd by television news anchor Bill Kurtis, told Benhiyoun that he admired the work of Chabad-Lubavitch around the world and his own city.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, left, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Meir Chai Benhiyoun, and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, pose for a picture during a private reception at the Chicago French Market April 27.