Experience of Jewish Teenagers in Maine


Dance Card, Waterville, 1917

Dance Card, Waterville, 1917
Item 56911   info
Colby College Special Collections

Jewish teens in Maine, such as Teddy Levine, often spent their evenings socializing on the dance floor, taking part in the typical American high school and college lifestyle.

But Judaism was just as important to Teddy as his social life. Despite the fact that Teddy was popular on the dance floor, with every waltz, foxtrot, and one-step penciled in on his dance card, he never married -- because he could not find a Jewish girl.

In order to keep the religious community alive, Jews were expected to marry within the faith. Teddy's brothers also were unable to find Jewish girls, so they never married either.

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