Maine Jewish Museum

267 Congress Street

mainejewishmuseum.org

We start at the Maine Jewish Museum (MJM), situated prominently on Congress Street in Portland’s historic East End neighborhood. The Museum is open to the public and well worth a visit. If you happen to be driving there, see our “Parking” notes below.

The Museum was established here in 2005, in the rehabilitated Etz Chaim Synagogue (Stop E02). However, if you had stood at the gate in the 1920s and looked down India Street, there would have been an apartment behind you and in front of the synagogue. Etz Chaim was at the time one of four Orthodox synagogues within a square half-mile. Across the street was The North School (Stop E03), and on the right corner was Levinsky’s clothing store, which opened in 1919 and remained here until the 1990s. You would have been in the center of the Jewish district that was concentrated within Middle, Fore, India and Hampshire Streets and was beginning to shift up onto Munjoy Hill.

MJM resides within the now-restored Etz Chaim Synagogue building. The concept of the Museum was developed by a handful of Jewish leaders and philanthropists that included Founding Executive Director and now Rabbi Gary Berenson, who sought to restore the Etz Chaim Synagogue facility to its original grand condition and create a museum of Maine Jewish history, art, and culture within its walls. Today, the Museum celebrates and honors the contributions and diversity of Maine’s Jewish immigrants in the context of the American experience, and outstanding Maine Jewish leaders who have brought honor and distinction to the state of Maine or beyond. Through exhibits, programming, and dialogue, the Museum seeks to build bridges of appreciation and understanding with people of all backgrounds.

Parking: Free on-street parking is available on adjacent neighborhood streets (note signs carefully). The parking lot adjacent to the Museum is private property and no Museum parking is allowed; drop off and accessible entrance are off this lot.