Jews In Maine

The Visit: On March 14 I attended the Maine Jewish Film Festival at the Maine Historical Society in Portland. The Film I saw was "Jewish Soldiers in Blue and Gray" and it discussed the role of the Jewish community as fighting members of the Civil War. Though the film mostly touched upon the Jews who fought for the confederacy, the overall theme of the movie was that they fought because they wanted to prove to the anti-Semitics that they valued America as their home and would do anything for it. The Film Festival was very well attended and I would recommend anyone who is interested in Jewish films to check it out.
Historical Significance: So far there have been 7 Jewish fighters found in the Maine Civil War records. But beyond their dedication to the war, Jewish immigrants found Maine to be a good place to make their new homes because of the state's natural and cultural environment. Bangor built the state's first synagogue in 1849 and by 1930 there were about 5,500 Jewish Mainers. Many found jobs in businesses, for example in retail, where they became major contributors to the downtown economies like Portland and Bath. They also became involved in the junk business, which was a precursor to the modern day recycling business. Maine was not always accepting of the Jewish community and in the 1950's two-thirds of Maine's resorts refused to have Jewish guests even though they contributed to the state through being elected officials, civil servants, and philanthropists. Today there are about 14,000 Jews in Maine and have fully integrated into Maine's economic and cultural society.

Resources: The Jews Of Maine: http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/1888/page/3104/display?use_mmn=,   Maine Jewish Film Festival: http://www.mjff.org/