In partnership with the Maine Memory Network Maine Memory Network

Maine History Online

Maine History Online

A Maine Historical Society Website

Header Graphic

From Yiddish to English: A Synagogue Grows

Synagogue Building Association record book, Portland, ca. 1902

Synagogue Building Association record book, Portland, ca. 1902

Item 53999 info
Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh

Among Portland's 50,000 residents in 1900 were about 80 Jewish families. While they had been organized in several congregations, two groups of Orthodox Jews decided in 1900 to join forces to build a synagogue and attract a rabbi.

The cover of the Hebrew Building Association record book is written in Yiddish, a reflection of the Jewish community's Eastern European roots.