Etz Chaim Synagogue

267 Congress Street

etzchaim-portland.org

The Etz Chaim (Tree of Life) Synagogue sits within the building of the Maine Jewish Museum and is open to the public. It is one of the oldest remaining European-style synagogues in continuous use in Maine. Recent extensive restoration has returned the building to its original modest grandeur and it is well worth a visit.

Etz Chaim was formed in 1921, by disaffected congregants from Shaarey Tphiloh (Stop E04) who wanted changes like sermons delivered in English (rather than Yiddish), and integrated seating for women and men. Dedicated in 1922, it had a barrel vault ceiling and a large stained-glass window above the ark and a women’s section on the second floor. The present building, originally built in the 1880s as an apartment house, was renovated into a synagogue modeled on a traditional two-story synagogue of the times. Its first rabbi initiated some more modern innovations, such as English sermons, but integrated seating in a Portland synagogue was adopted decades later, with the opening of Temple Beth El in 1950 (Stop W02). At first, the area that is now a garden housed The Robinsky Block on Congress Street, so Etz Chaim was accessed by a passage to the side.

Etz Chaim thrived until the 1960s, when the population shift from Munjoy Hill to the suburban Woodfords area during the 1940s and 1950s eventually eroded both membership and revenues. A handful of generous congregant donors kept the doors open to the end of the 20th century. In 2002, Gary Berenson was elected president of the synagogue and its lay leader. In 2003, Rabbi Harry Sky, at that point Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth El (Stop W02), became the Rabbi-in-Residence at Etz Chaim and introduced it as an inclusive, egalitarian synagogue. In 2019, Berenson became ordained as its rabbi, and has been the driving force behind the resurgence of Etz Chaim ever since.

In April 2006, the Tree of Life Foundation was established with the mission to restore the building to its original condition with modern improvements - all with the overriding goal of housing a new Maine Jewish Museum and reestablishing the Etz Chaim Synagogue to its former glory. In addition to hosting services, the synagogue has outstanding acoustics and is used by the Museum to host musical and cultural events, art shows, and historical exhibitions.

Today, Congregation Etz Chaim is an inclusive synagogue. It offers Friday services in the liberal Jewish spirit (mostly in English) and Saturday morning in a traditional Hebrew format. It offers a welcoming and inclusive Jewish worship experience that includes interfaith, multicultural, and non-traditional individuals and families.