The Center for Small Town Jewish Life

What an incredible conference! We loved being with you this past weekend learning, singing, dancing, praying, hiking, and basking in three days of joyful Jewish celebration. Thank you, todah rabah, for the exuberance, curiosity, and ru'ach each of you brings to our Maine Jewish community. How good it is to be together!

And, that's a wrap! Thank you to the over 300 people who participated in this year's Maine Conference for Jewish Life! This weekend was so full of joy, learning, and beautiful community. What a wonderful way to celebrate our bnei mitzvah (13th) year!

If you can't make it to the MCJL in person, you can livestream tonight's service and my opening remarks! Once you register for Friday night, you'll automatically be sent a link.

MCJL 5786/2026 Get tickets online for MCJL 5786/2026 here.

It's time!!! The Central Maine Motors Auto Group welcome sign is up. Cannot wait for this year's Maine Conference for Jewish Life at Thomas College to begin. We're setting up and getting ready to welcome everyone with boundless joy. See you there 😉

Hi Friends! We are nearly SOLD OUT for Saturday at the conference. There are literally just a couple of spots left, but
you can still sign up for Friday night and Sunday! (We have a free livestream available for Friday night.) Come join us for powerful Kabbalat Shabbat services with Cantor Rachel Brook (joining us from Anshe Emet Synagogue Chicago) and our very own Cantor Sheila Nesis , and our full Sunday of in-person, dynamic Torah learning! We can't wait for hundreds of folks to come together and celebrate Jewish life in Waterville this weekend! https://colbycollegejewishlife.ticketspice.com/mcjl-57862026

Whether you are a teacher, a parent, a rabbi, or any kind of leader, you choose what you will pass on to others. Yet there is a tension between what you want to pass on, what will be heard, and what will be rejected. So what do you do? As a community and as individuals, whose Torah do we refuse to listen to and whose will we consider? If we censor some and only consider others, the Talmud asks (Kiddushin 52b) ?דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה מָה תְּהֵא עָלֶיהָ “What will become of the words of Torah?” Join Rabbi Braun at the conference to ask these crucial questions! Register here: https://colbycollegejewishlife.ticketspice.com/mcjl-57862026

Avoid FOMO! Come learn with Lauren Cohen Fisher and dozens of others iconic teachers at next weekend’s epic conference. Register now at the link in our bio. jewishlife.colby.edu

Together with Jewish studies instructor Lauren Cohen Fisher, we'll explore Jewish and Arab identities in Mizrachi* poetry. Open to all; no prior knowledge of Israel, Mizrachim, or poetry needed to participate! (*Mizrachi Jews=Jews with recent ancestry in the Muslim and Arab world). Come to the conference to learn with us! Register here: https://jewishlife.colby.edu/maine-conference-for-jewish-life/

Explore the rich intersection of Jewish and Mexican culinary traditions through the lens of Sabor Judío’s community recipe archive. We’ll share methods for gathering and preserving family recipes, discuss the stories they carry, and finish with a live demo of a bright, herbed lentil salad you can recreate at home. All this, and SO much more at the Maine Conference for Jewish Life. Register here: https://colbycollegejewishlife.ticketspice.com/mcjl-57862026

Don’t miss this and a slew of other amazing sessions, plus a klezmer dance party, at the Maine Conference for Jewish Life in Waterville! Register today at the link in our bio.