Center for Small Town Jewish Life

Across the United States, nearly 100,000 Jews nationwide do not have access to the Jewish resources, educational opportunities, or community-building experiences afforded to Jews in urban and suburban centers. The Center for Small Town Jewish Life is seeking to change that by providing low-income and geographically isolated Jewish communities with the programs, resources, and educational opportunities they need to live joyful Jewish lives. 

Established in Waterville, Maine, with the support of Colby College, the Center is developing exemplary conferences, leadership development initiatives, retreats, and learning opportunities that build bridges across generations and socio-economic classes. The Center’s spirit of collaboration led to a variety of cornerstone programs, including a signature program for Jewish teens, a leadership seminar for lay synagogue boards, a low-cost summer program for dozens of Jewish children, and a training program for rabbinical students serving small towns. 

The Center’s innovative model for engagement and outreach enables the 14,000 Jews in Maine as well as thousands of others in rural northern New England to access Jewish experiences that would otherwise be unaffordable or unavailable to them. In the coming years, the Center hopes to scale up its offerings to ensure that its model can be replicated in more small towns and rural communities nationwide.