The Jewish Learning Institute will hold the course “Colorful Profiles” taught in Binghamton by Rivkah Slonim. “Colorful Profiles” seeks “to bring stories to life of intriguing and lesser-known Jewish figures who showed remarkable courage throughout history. Participants will learn how these individuals navigated issues that continue to resonate today.”
The course will run for four consecutive Mondays beginning Monday, May 5, at 7 pm. It is open to adults of all ages and is geared toward every level of knowledge, including those who have no background in Hebrew or Judaism. Participants need not be affiliated with a synagogue to attend.
Participants can attend in person or online. The course cost, which includes the text book, is $79 or $150 for a couple. That includes one book; an additional copy to a registered couple is available for $20.Click here to register. For answers to questions, contact Ruth Shea at Chabad at rshea@Jewishbu.com or 607-797-0015.
The four-session course will delve into 12 personalities that include “high-profile hostages, savvy businesswomen, unlikely converts and more.” The course hopes participants gains a “richer understanding of some of the historical challenges that people faced in living a Jewish life and how their stories resulted in enduring, impactful legacies.”
“Our past imparts critical life lessons, but history may sometimes come across as dry and boring,” says Slonim. “This course is anything but that. The stories under study in this course bring the past to life in gripping sagas, many of which seem too impossible to believe – yet they all occurred. I expect this course to be entertaining, deeply edifying, and profoundly inspirational.
“These stories are not defined by tragedy and suffering, but by what it means to be a proud, resilient Jew” added Slonim. “It somehow seems very apropos for our times.” 
JLI, the adult education branch of Chabad-Lubavitch, offers courses in more than 800 locations in the U.S. and in numerous foreign countries, including Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Panama, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela. More than 400,000 students have attended JLI classes since the organization was founded in 1998.