Burned books to get respectful burial

When the Chabad House on SW Vermont Street was destroyed by fire in August 2020, about 2,000 holy books were ruined. 
Holy books, papers and ritual objects dealing with sacred subjects are traditionally stored in a genizah, storage area, until they can be buried in a Jewish cemetery as a si…

Free Loan feeds Kosher sourdough business

PHOTO: Sara Levine takes a loaf of her sourdough bread out of the new deck oven she was able to purchase thanks to Jewish Free Loan of Greater Portland. You can view a video of Sara discussing that aid at jewishportland.org/hereforsmallbiz.

BY SARA SAFDIE

I first “met” Sara Levine in a…

Build resilience for a brighter future

BY DEBORAH MOON
The uncertainty, stress and isolation of growing up in a global pandemic will unquestionably have long-term, perhaps lifetime, impacts on the emotional and mental health of today’s children and teens. Yet one of those lingering effects could be a lifelong ability to face ne…

New Kesser Torah honors 'proste Yidden'

BY SURA RUBENSTEIN

Sunday, Jan. 9, will be a time of celebration – the completion and dedication of a new Torah scroll.
Everyone in the Portland community is invited to join the festivities at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center and watch the scribe as he writes the last letters of the …

People news: Fred Rothstein to retire; OJCF, CNSCOS add staff

Fred Rothstein to retire next fall from Neveh Shalom

Congregation Neveh Shalom’s Executive Director Fred Rothstein will retire on Oct. 31, 2022, after 21 years of service to CNS and over five decades of Jewish communal leadership. Included in those decades were 12 years at the Mittleman …