Faces and Facets of Jewish Life in Maine

There is Always an &
Dawn LaRochelle

Discovering Place, Uncovering Meaning
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum

A Journey of Love and Hope
Hedva Rokach

Faces & Facets of Jewish Life in Maine

Southern Maine 
Arundel, Biddeford, Kennebunkport, Limington, Moody, Old Orchard Beach, Saco, Wells, York

Greater Portland
Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Falmouth, Gorham, Gray, Peaks Island, Portland, Scarborough, South Portland, Westbrook, Yarmouth

Midcoast and Downeast 
Appleton, Belfast, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Bucksport, Camden, Damariscotta, Deer Isle, Edgecomb, Freedom, Lincolnville, Mariaville, Richmond, Rockland, Rockport, Searsport, Topsham, Union, Waldoboro, Whitefield

Central Maine
Albany Twp, Auburn, Augusta, Avon, Benton, Durham, Fairfield, Farmingdale, Farmington, Gardiner, Greenwood, Hallowell, Harrison, Lewiston, Readfield, Temple, Waterford, Waterville, Weld, Wilton, Woodstock

Northern Maine 
Bangor, Fort Kent, Hermon, Mars Hill, Orono, Presque Isle, Winterport

Mainers in the Diaspora
Massachusetts, New Hampshire

Index 268

Discovering Place, Uncovering Meaning
Melissa Martens Yaverbaum*
Exhibition Co-Curator, Maine Jewish Museum

As a relative newcomer to Maine from Brooklyn, New York, I’ve learned that grasping the local culture here requires a new way of looking and listening. The rhythms of Jewish life pulse at a different tempo and volume; signs of Jewish presence are less publicly palpable; and Jewish experiences unfold in tune with the environs of Maine – a place some 19,000 Jewish individuals now call home.
As a longtime curator of Jewish history and by way of orientation, I found myself drawn to the extant historical record that documents Jewish life in the State. Here, one finds themes often used to describe American-Jewish life of the 20th century – arrivals, work, recreation, holidays, celebrations, communal institutions, military service, and the continuation of Jewish traditions. And indeed, the contours of Jewish life in Maine easily queue to longer-standing narratives of diasporic culture – the quest for home, safety, comfort, and community, as well as enduring meaning and beauty.
Yet as museums and Jewish communal organizations take a deeper look at what it means to live Jewishly in the 21st century, the work presented here by photographer Hedva Rokach offers a fresh perspective and vocabulary for that very task. Featuring over 200 subjects, it is the largest commissioned art project to date capturing the breadth of Jewish life in Maine, celebrating identities that are Jewish and beyond.
Rokach’s work invites viewers behind the lens and into personal settings, where a range of activities unfold – from the everydayness of pancakes and coffee, to stories told over card games, rituals moved forward by music, and the ongoing work required to hold up Jewish culture, especially in small, remote communities.
These photographs also help us rearrange existing assumptions about Jewish life in Maine and confront stereotypes. They show over 1% of Maine’s Jewish residents today, living Jewishly in ways both expected and unexpected. Rokach’s process for photographing these subjects – navigated with her partner Itay Bahur – was as much about relationship building as it was about art making. Long journeys by the Israeli couple across the State opened up conversations and understandings that couldn’t have happened otherwise, and suggest a new model for dialogue through the arts and cultural ambassadorship. In the context of these times, this project by the photographer and the Museum is bold, ultimately reassuring, and reminds us of what’s possible going forward.
As we view the photographs within this publication and the related exhibition at the Maine Jewish Museum, we’ll no doubt find new ways of looking and listening to each other.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to extend my thanks to the Maine Jewish Museum team and its Executive Director, Dawn LaRochelle, for the courage and vision required to launch all aspects of this needed project. My admiration and appreciation go to Hedva Rokach for her beautiful photographs, and for the extensive time she and Itay Bahur took in Maine to document its people with dignity, curiosity, and openness. My thanks also go to the individuals photographed, for their vulnerability and visibility, and for the ways in which they create and maintain Jewish culture every single day here in Maine.

* Melissa Martens Yaverbaum is a nationally known culture leader and consulting exhibition curator. She has worked with Jewish museums for decades, including as Curator of Jewish Museum of Maryland (1997-2007), as Director of Collections & Exhibitions at the Museum of Jewish Heritage (2008-2014), and as Executive Director of the Council of American Jewish Museums (2014-2024).