Colorful Profiles

History is meaningful, but it can be boring. Entertainment is fun, but it can be meaningless. What if we can merge the two, and learn about our history in a riveting and exciting way? This is the entertaining and meaningful journey the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s (JLI) latest course, Colorful Profiles, will take us on.

We are here because of our history. If we wish to understand our present role and meaning as Jews, we need to understand our history that has shaped us. As we look for guidance in securing our Jewish future, we need to explore our past to understand what got us here in the first place.

But as important as it may be, for many of us the study of history seems tedious, even boring. The places, languages, and cultures are foreign to us, and the myriad facts and figures bore us. 

Colorful Profiles takes a different approach, allowing us to learn from Jewish history through the fascinating and entertaining lives of some of its greatest and most colorful heroes. Told through original sources, historic documents, multimedia, and music, the adventures of these remarkable characters will entertain us, and the lessons we learn from them will educate us about who we are as a people, and the role we are supposed to play.

Each of the four lessons in this course focuses on a specific theme, and explores the fascinating and entertaining lives and accomplishments of remarkable personalities from Jewish history that express this theme.

 

Lesson 01

What attracted a Roman caesar’s nephew to convert to Judaism, and what message does his revolutionary Hebrew-to-Aramaic Torah translation provide us? Why did a twelfth-century Italian priest surrender his career to live as a wandering Jew, and what cultural gifts did he bring with him? How did a young Polish eighteenth-century nobleman become a legend of devotion and sacrifice for Judaism?

This lesson explores the fascinating life stories of three converts to Judaism: Onkelos, Ovadiah of Normandy, and Avraham ben Avraham. Through their remarkable lives we will discover what it means to become a Jew, and learn about the invaluable contributions converts have made to Jewish life. 

Lesson 02

How did a leading Torah sage of eleventh-century Spain command a Muslim army? How did a child born in the suffocating shadow of the Portuguese Inquisition fling open the gates of Jewish wisdom to non-Jewish scholars, and force open the gates of England for his oppressed brethren? How did the relationship between a leading Italian rabbi and his young non-Jewish German pupil save the Talmud from destruction and establish it as a source of wisdom for all humanity?

This lesson explores the respective dramas and triumphs of three rabbis: Shmuel Hanagid, Menashe ben Israel, and Ovadiah Seforno. These personalities provide us with remarkable insight into the historic Jewish mission of serving as “a light unto the nations,” and teach us how to become part of this mission ourselves. 

Lesson 03

How did a clandestinely Jewish businesswoman smuggle thousands of her brethren from the clutches of the Inquisition and launch an ambitious settlement project in the Holy Land? How did a Polish rabbi’s wife influence Jewish ritual practice and custom? What profound life lessons did a seventeenth-century German Jewish entrepreneur impart via her remarkable autobiography?

This lesson delves into the experiences of three extraordinary women: Doña Gracia, Rebbetzin Bayla Katz, and Glikl of Hameln. They collectively gift us with fresh insight into the unique role of Jewish women as nurturers of their families, communities, and faith. 

Lesson 04

How did a band of pirates’ capture of a ship ferrying four rabbis change the course of Jewish history? Why did the top German Talmudic sage of the thirteenth century refuse to be released from prison? How did a seventeenth-century hostage crisis in Ukraine unite the Jewish world for an unprecedented rescue mission?

This lesson explores the sagas of the four captive rabbis, as well as Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg and Rabbi Yaakov Koppel Margolis and his fellow captives from the 1648 Khmelnytskyi Massacres. Their moving stories of tragedy and bravery leave us with insightful reflections on the foundations of Jewish unity and the extent of our responsibilities toward Jewish hostages.