Rivkah Slonim of Chabad of Binghamton will offer a new four-session course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute titled “Outsmarting Antisemitism.” The four-week course will begin on Monday, November 1. The 7 pm section of the class will be offered in person at the Chabad Center and via Zoom. The 8:45 pm section will be offered via Zoom. Sign-in information will be provided upon enrollment. To sign up, write rshea@ChabadofBinghamton.com or call Chabad at 797-0015 and indicate if coming in person or attending via Zoom. Zoom participants who live locally can pick up the book in person or ask to have it mailed to their home. The course registration fee, which includes the book, is $79 per person and $150 for couples.
“Using history, talmudic sources, Jewish mysticism and contemporary expert analysis, the course addresses some of the questions we grapple with as individuals and as a community,” say organizers of the program. “Why does antisemitism persist? How can we make hate go away? How can we counter Israel-focused antisemitism and prevent our own youth from unwittingly lending their voices to antisemitic agendas?”
“Many Jews are anxious about rising antisemitism today and worry about how to respond to it,” says Slonim. “By exploring the mechanics of antisemitism and probing historical strategies for reducing it, this course offers a framework for confronting it head-on with purpose, positivity and pride.”
“Informative, interesting and empowering, ‘Outsmarting Antisemitism’ is well suited for community leaders and laypersons alike,” say organizers of the course.
“All those who care about religious freedom, both Jews and others, confront a disturbing increase in antisemitism worldwide,” says Cary Nelson, past president of the American Association of University Professors. “It is no longer enough just to be opposed to antisemitism. We all have to be knowledgeable about its history and current manifestations if we are to be equipped to combat its spread. That is why this course matters.”
“What distinguishes the present moment is the rise of antisemitism simultaneously on all fronts,” says Natan Sharansky, former refusenik and chairman at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. “To succeed in the struggle against these dangerous phenomena, we have to confront antisemitism on all fronts simultaneously. Therefore, this course from the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute is very important.”
The JLI program is designed to appeal to people at all levels of knowledge, including those without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning. All JLI courses are open to the public, and attendees need not be affiliated with a particular synagogue, temple or other house of worship.
JLI, the adult education branch of Chabad-Lubavitch, offers programs in more than 1,600 international locations in the U.S., Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, 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 it was founded in 1998.