User:Maineryid/Shaarey Tphiloh Synagogue

Shaarey Tphiloh congregation was established in Portland, Maine in 1904. It is the oldest active Orthodox synagogue in Maine. The congregation was first housed in a synagogue on Newbury St. in Munjoy Hill, a section of Portland where the center of Jewish community life was. (See "Shaarey Tphiloh" in Portland Press Herald, Apr. 10, 2010.)

In the 1950s, as the Jewish community moved to the "suburbs" of Portland the congregation moved to Noyes Street, not far from Woodford's Corner. In addition to serving the local Jewish community, the congregation welcomes many Jewish travelers who visit Maine for vacations. (See congregation website www.mainesynagogue.org/drupal.)

Historian Michael Cohen recently wrote of the transitions of the congregation over the last century in the journal Maine History. His article "Adapting Orthodoxy to American Life: Shaarey Tphiloh and the development of Modern Orthodox Judaism in Portland, Maine,1904 - 1976" describes the changes that took place within the congregation as its congregation acculturated over the decades since its founding.