Congregation Kol Am, the Anti-Defamation League’s A World of Difference Institute and the St. Louis Art Museum will present “Concepts of Beauty and Bias,” a series of four family workshops designed to change perceptions of beauty and bias.

The first two workshops will take place Sunday, Oct. 22, and Sunday, Oct. 29, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Congregation Kol Am, 1023 Chesterfield Parkway East. Session three will be held at the Saint Louis Art Museum on Saturday, Nov. 4, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. The final session will be at Congregation Kol Am on Saturday, Nov. 11. This session will begin with a Family Shabbat Service at 10:30 a.m., followed by A World of Difference Workshop from noon-2 p.m.

Reservations are required. Contact Congregation Kol Am at 636-519-0082 or [email protected].

Doctor will discuss response to pandemic

Dr. Steve Lawrence, M.D., will discuss “What To do In A Pandemic” from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. Lawrence is associate director for emergency response planning for the Midwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research Washington University School of Medicine. This class is free and open to the public. For registration and information, call Fran Kravitz at the JCC at 314-442-3150.

NHBZ set to host annual chili cookoff Oct. 29

Nusach Hari B’nai Zion will host a community-wide Kosher Chili Cookoff on Sunday, Oct. 29. Teams will begin cooking at the synagogue starting at 3 p.m., and the community tasting and judging will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Competing teams can be made up of up to four team members. Entrance forms and the official rules are available from the synagogue or online at www.nhbz.org. Every attendee gets a vote in the People’s Choice. The $5 dollar entrance fee for attendees includes tasting rights to all the entrants (until they run out) as well as generous portions of the house chili. In addition to the chili, regular barbecue fare will be available for purchase at family friendly prices.

Because this is a kosher chili cookoff, all teams will purchase meat through the synagogue, use the utensils and crockpots provided by the synagogue, and have all other ingredients checked in by Rabbi Ze’ev Smason. For $5, the team can use the synagogue’s spices rather than buying their own.