The recent attack on a Michigan Temple’s preschool has revived fears that, for many members of Chicago’s Jewish community, a similar attack could happen locally.
“Honestly when I drop my children off at Hebrew school on Sundays, every time I think I don’t want this to be the last time I see my kids alive,” said Rebecca Wineinger, a Highland Park mother and regional director of ADL Midwest.
The ADL has tracked a 58% increase in antisemitic incidents and attacks in Chicago since 2024. Their data is similar to that of the Chicago Human Rights Commission.
The executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund said that the war in Iran could increase the danger.
“The war in Iran, like other hot moments in the Mideast,” said Jay Tcath, “provide a momentary trigger for those who already hate American Jews and are looking for the latest excuse to lash out against us.”
Tcath said, in the Chicago area, synagogues and schools are on high alert.
“Everything from cameras and bollards and man traps, entry procedures and, at some places, armed guards. It is an unfair tax being levied against American Jews just so our young people can go to preschool and all of and go pray at synagogue,” he said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday likened the attack at the Temple school to the massacre of school children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
They only difference, she said, the armed guards at the door who were able to stop the gunman before any children were hurt.
Wineinger agreed.
“There were 140 preschool children in the building, and because of this incredibly heroic and brave security guard, the attacker was not able to further his attack into the building,” she said.
The Chicago Police Department issued a statement, saying it is monitoring the situation in Bloomfield, Michigan.
“While there is no actionable intelligence related to Chicago at this time, we are paying special attention to places of worship and will adjust resources if necessary,” the department stated.
But Chicago’s Jewish community wants the city to take their safety more seriously and to establish an antisemitism task force – one of the recommendations made in a report that is sitting on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s desk.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office says it is still reviewing the report and expects to say more soon about how it will be implemented.
Wineinger called the delay abhorrent behavior.
“I think it is a complete dereliction of duty for the elected leader of the city of Chicago to not act on behalf of his Jewish constituents,” she said.
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