Introduction

Jews have been living in Maine since the 1800s: There were fully functioning Jewish communities in Bangor in the 1840s, and in Portland in the 1880s. Somewhat improbably, at least to outsiders, those and other Jewish enclaves around the state have endured and thrived. Over the last 100 years, the Jewish population of Maine has ranged from 5,000 to over 10,000.

Honoring the Jewish tradition of remembrance, the Documenting Maine Jewry project seeks to tell the story, not just of those individuals, but of the communities they shaped. Our goal is to collect short histories of the many people and organizations that have contributed over time to the lives of Maine Jews.

Questions unavoidably arise : Who is a Jew? And who is a Mainer? On the former, the project takes no position. On the latter, we have used a broad definition including not only those who were born, grew up, or lived here, but also those who are buried here.
From generation, to generation, to generation.
Aerial view of Center Day Camp, Sebago Lake basin
 Maine Jewish life brings to mind different things for different Jews. For some it is where they were born, live, and cannot imagine living anywhere else. For others, it is where they grew up and consequently hold special memories of childhood. Other Jews see Maine as the place that they have vacationed for years or went to summer camp. As with other Jewish communities, many families moved in because their relatives had asked them to come. And increasingly other Maine Jews are ones who have opted to move to Maine as the place where they want to live.


Fortunately many of these diverse family experiences have been captured in series of personal histories. Eighty-two of these personal histories are oral histories are available on the Portland Public Library website. Other of these experiences are shared face-to-face in a series of DMJ sponsored Gatherings in and out of the State.
Some Jews in Maine arrived directly off the boat (116,000 European immigrants landed in the Portland harbor); others were relocated here by the oddly named Industrial Removal Office of HAIS in the early 1900s; others migrated here from the big cities seeking a physical environment more similar to their former shtetls or wanting to find economic opportunities from the timber industry or trading activities. Economic, social, and religious realities meant that some of the in-migrants or their descendants became out-migrants.

State maps, maps of the Old country , and maps from-away places in North America can help trace this history. The burial records of Maine's 19 Jewish cemeteries , memorial boards, and Yarzeheit records can link old family members with today's Jewish communities in the state and from away.
Joe Lifshitz and his son Shep Lee, Advanced Auto Sales, Auburn, 1960s c
Beth Israel, Bath, Me
 Currently, the larger Jewish communities are in Aroostook County, Auburn-Lewiston, Augusta , Biddeford-Saco , Bangor , Portland , Rockland , and Waterville . There are smaller Jewish communities in Bath, Old Orchard Beach, Old Town, and The County (Aroostook). And of course there are Jewish families in rural, back-to-the-land towns, Jewish students in Maine colleges and in inter-married families throughout the state .

These communities are supported by a range of community centers, synagogues, Jewish newsletters, and social service agencies. Current contact information for these community institutions are on the local home pages and in the organizational index .
The core of the project is the addition of new information by Maine Jews and other interested people, whether online through the website, by email, or by old-fashioned mail. Building the database DMJ has benefited from support from community centers, synagogues, family historians, Chevra Kiddisha, burial associations, social clubs, sports teams across the state and its partner organizations .

We encourage all registered users to supplement or correct existing information on individuals using the edit function on each person's page. Historical documents, oral accounts, photographs of community activities, and print articles can be emailed to dmj@mindspring.com.

Sam & Rose (Lindenberg) Cronsberg Ketuba, Waterville 5690 (1929)

DATABASE RESOURCES : Information is available today on

  • 29,725 individual Jews with strong ties to Maine of which 2,304 show the first generation country of origin
  • 7,810 records of burial in Maine Jewish cemeteries for which there are 3,428 headstone images
  • 1,536 organizations important to the Maine Jewish community of which 511 are Jewish community institutions in Maine and 577 are businesses important to the Maine Jewish communities
  • 180 are oral histories of which 85 are available as .mp3 audio recordings on-line
  • 2,552 bibliographic citations and sources of which 1,306 are photographs and 624 are original documents
  • To date 492 individuals and 36 organizations have contributed photographs, recollections, documents, or other resources to DMJ on-line resource base

Financial contributions to DMJ can honor their own Maine immigrant family or to inspire and inform the next generation of Maine Jews. These contribution supplement this largely volunteer effort by supporting data collection and outreach. DMJ is under the financial supervision of Temple Beth El, 400 Deering Ave, Portland, Maine 04103 , Donations are welcome using the Tzedakah box below or by sending a gift (marked DMJ) to Temple Beth El .

For security reasons, complete access to the database is available only on request. A full index of all burials , however, is publicly available.

Recent additions to the database include


Last Updated : Feb 24 2011

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