Jewish community of Greater Portland.

This section of the Documenting Maine Jewry project has information on the communities of Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Falmouth Foreside, Portland, South Portland, Westbrook,. Currently there is data on 8,040 people and 393 organizations with strong ties to Greater Portland.

The coordinators of this site are Annette Elowitch, Judy Halperin, and Steve Hirshon.

Local Jewish Organizations

Brief History of Greater Portland Jewry

see Ben Band's Portland Jewry : Its Growth and Development

Recent additions to the Documenting Greater Portland Jewry database include

• 1958 to 1968 Macabee Membership Lists and Group Photographs (Portland)
• DMJ's new collection of 40 oral histories of Portland area Jews is now available
• Abe Peck, As Jewish Maine Goes, So Goes American Jewry: Perspectives on the American Jewish Experience presentation at Bates College Forum on Maine Jewish History, October 2009
• additional information from the Sharrey Tphilot memorial boards (Portland)
• Iota Phil Sorority (Sigma Chapter), National Iota Phi Convention booklet , Lafayette Hotel, April 1960 (Portland)
• The Jewish Traveler : Portland by Nahma Sandrow in Shalom Boston and in Hadassah Magazine , 2006 (NB : the travelogue is interesting but, take care,some of the history is not quite accurate. )
• additional information on the Reuben & Fannie Slotsky family (Portland)
• Maine Jewish Veterans Killed in Action prepared by Jim Friedlander, Commander, Jacob Cousins Post #99, Portland, ME
• Mu Sigma, a Jewish high school fraternity, Dance Program, 1954 (Portland)
• Bet Ha'am Synagogue Dedication, 2009 (South Portland)
• Reflections by Cynthnia Rudek Peklikin of the Phil and Bertha Rudek Family, 1938-1956 (Portland)

-------------- The Documenting Greater Portland Jewry (DGPJ) site is a part of the state-wide Documenting Maine Jewry (DMJ) project. 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. DMJ's goal is to collect short histories of the many people and organizations that have contributed, over time, to the lives of Maine Jews. Currently the state-wide index has records on over 25,000 Jewish Mainers and 200 Maine Jewish organizations.

People    The 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.

Organizations    DGPJ is also building a community-based history around the 20 religious and secular institutions that were or are the lifeblood of the Greater Portland Jewish community – as well as the source of quite regular souris (headaches). The project is creating 'family trees' of those often-interconnected local institutions: some 180 Jewish service organizations, 94 Jewish religious bodies, 18 Chevra Kaddisha and cemeteries, 15 Jewish camps, and 240 businesses crucial to the economic survival of Maine Jews.

Places    The state-wide database has information on Maine Jews from over 90 cities and towns . Users can seek information in a particular town or city or can select a wider area to search on the state map index . Each option allows users to find organizations and people either in these key cities/towns or by county.

Oral Histories    The DGPJ project is also collecting oral histories. Currently there are X oral histories by Greater Portland-connected Jews.

Sources    The Documenting Maine Jewry methodology is basically a jigsaw approach. We take whatever community, municipal, and cemetery records we have and merge them into a common database. As a result, we face problems of duplication and incompleteness. To minimize those problems, we try to name-match only when we have at least two factual sources for a given name. Ultimately, we feel it is better to have duplicate records than inaccurate information linking two unrelated people with the same names; Jews do love to repeat certain family names. In the name of historic accuracy, we ask families to supplement/correct their information using the on-line edit function on their page, or by emailing correct information to dopj@mindspring.com.

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

Volunteers    The Greater Portland Documenting Maine Jewry effort is largely a volunteer effort; we always welcome more help. Volunteers interested in photographing older Jewish headstones, collecting information on a particular town or organization, transferring data from print to electronic records, or upgrading software should email to dopj@mindspring.com.

Finances    Financial contributions supplement the volunteer effort by supporting data collection and outreach. DGPJ is under the financial supervision of Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine(JCA), a 501(c)3 organization. Donations are welcome using the Tzedakah box below or by sending a gift (marked DOMJ) to the JCA, 57 Ashmont St., Portland, Maine 04103. Major donors can select a range of contributions to honor their own Maine immigrant family or to inspire and inform the next generation of Maine Jews.

Heart and Soul    The core of the project is the addition of new information by Maine Jews, whether online through the website, by email, or by old-fashioned mail. 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 dopj @ mindspring.com . To get a mailing address, please email describing the materials you would like to share.

Last Updated : 13 February 2010