A Synagogue Born from One July Evening in 1947
On a warm July evening in 1947, more than one hundred people gathered at the Jewish Community Center in Portland, Maine, to talk about creating a Conservative congregation in a city with a strong Orthodox orientation. Portland's Jewish community, established after the Civil War, had flourished until about 1920, then slowly thinned through the 1940s. The desire to organize the first Conservative synagogue in Maine was powerful. That night, the group voted to hold High Holiday services that fall, find a temporary home, and name the new congregation Beth El, House of God. On Rosh Hashanah, September 14, 1947, in a borrowed hall with a visiting rabbi, Congregation Beth El became a reality.
More than seven decades later, Temple Beth El has become a major regional center of Conservative Judaism north of Boston. The synagogue still worships at 400 Deering Avenue in Portland, serves families from across southern Maine, and is a member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts. The congregation has marked its place in Jewish life by moving first on a long list of issues. Under Rabbi Harry Sky and Cantor Kurt Messerschmidt, TBE engaged in human and civil rights work and was among the first Conservative synagogues to put women into lay and rabbinic leadership. In 1995, with the hiring of Rabbi Carolyn Braun, Temple Beth El became the largest Conservative synagogue in the nation to be led by a woman. A 2007 amendment to the temple's constitution included all members of interfaith families as equal synagogue members, and in 2009 Rabbi Braun was active among the statewide coalition of clergy who stood together in support of equal marriage rights.
Conservative Judaism with Audacious Welcome
Temple Beth El observes Conservative Judaism and is committed to perpetuating Jewish values, culture, and tradition. The community's mission is to be an embracing, supportive, and vibrant congregation, and the synagogue honors the diversity of its members and their spiritual, intellectual, and religious growth. Services are egalitarian: people of all genders pray together, count in a minyan, are invited to wear kippot at all services, and wear tallitot on Shabbat mornings. The prayer book in the pews is Seder Rav Shalem (Siddur Lev Shalem), with Hebrew, transliterated Hebrew, and English translations on facing pages.
Five core values shape the congregation. Judaism is a journey that members walk together, wherever they may be on the path. Every person is of infinite value, and all are welcomed without judgment. The congregation takes seriously its responsibility as Jews to make a positive impact on the world by engaging in tikkun olam, repair of the world. Lifelong learning is central to the Jewish experience. And the Jewish people are one family, all connected to and responsible for one another. A 2019 five-year strategic plan, refined through community surveys and broad consultation, set five priorities for the synagogue's next decade: fostering an inclusive and supportive Jewish community, enhancing external communication and outreach, growing the next generation under the banner of L'Dor v'Dor, building long-term organizational and structural capacity, and increasing member recruitment and retention.
Shabbat and the Week
Shabbat is the rhythm of TBE's prayer life. Friday nights begin with Kabbalat Shabbat in the sanctuary at 5:30pm, preceded by an ong at 5:00pm and offered with livestream access for those who cannot attend in person. Saturday mornings begin at 9:30am with Shabbat services led by Rabbi Simmons-Blumenfeld and the Shabbat morning crew. The service is highly participatory, with members of the congregation often leading various sections and reading Torah and Haftarah, and is followed by a kiddush lunch. Morning Minyan meets daily except Shabbat and Yontif at 8am, by Zoom each day and in person on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, holding the community together through shacharit. On the first Monday of each month at 7am, a smaller Monday Morning Minyan gathers at the synagogue, followed by a little Talmud study.
The sanctuary is the main service space, but services sometimes spill outdoors for the summer months with programs such as Shabbat Bachutz. Holiday services for Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Pesach, and the rest of the Jewish year follow a format similar to Shabbat services, often enhanced by special blessings, melodies, and refreshments. The Yahrzeit Observance program supports members marking the anniversaries of loved ones' deaths, a cornerstone of Jewish communal memory.
The dress code is presentable, casual, and the only practical rule is no electronic devices at the synagogue on Shabbat and holidays. The prayer community is explicit that prayer services can feel intimidating and that nobody is expected to be an expert. Humming along, reading the poetry and liturgical notes in the margins of the prayer book, or simply observing are all welcomed ways to engage.
The High Holidays at TBE
The High Holidays are the busiest liturgical season at Temple Beth El. Information about the schedule is generally available about two months before Rosh Hashanah. All services are free and open to the public, with services held in the large sanctuary and extended seating in the social hall, plus a livestream feed. TBE is required to issue a pass for entry on Erev Rosh Hashanah, both days of Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre, and Yom Kippur, a system introduced to provide for everyone's safety. Members receive their passes by mail. Non-members, including families whose children attend the religious school but who have not joined the congregation, members of other USCJ synagogues, and members of the general community, can reserve free passes through the High Holidays page and pick them up on site.
The Days of Awe begin with a joint S'lichot program with Congregation Bet Ha'am, a three-week Elul class with Rabbi Simmons-Blumenfeld to center the High Holiday mindset, and a Tashlich service at Jewell Falls in Portland, where the community casts bread or birdseed into moving water in a hopeful ritual of release and renewal. Yom Kippur brings a full day of shacharit, Torah, musaf, mincha, and n'ilah, with Yizkor in the afternoon, gentle yoga and meditation in the Youth Lounge and Library, and a final shofar blast at the close. Children's services run on both days of Rosh Hashanah and on Yom Kippur morning, with free childcare available for ages three and up during the late-morning hours. A Teen Torah Study for students in sixth grade and above is offered alongside the younger children's program. Sukkot programs follow, including a sukkah-raising morning, a family potluck in the sukkah, and an evening of spirits and spirits in the sukkah with Rabbi Simmons-Blumenfeld. Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah close the fall holiday season, including a family-friendly Erev Simchat Torah celebration with the unrolling of an entire sefer Torah.
Kadima Beth El: The Religious School
Kadima Beth El, often shortened to KBE, is the synagogue's inclusive religious school, serving children from pre-K through high school. The name Kadima means forward, and reflects the congregation's commitment to helping families bring the vibrancy and relevance of Jewish tradition forward into their lives. The school is rooted in holistic Jewish education and seeks to cultivate the mind, heart, and soul of each child, so that they may find their own unique Jewish voice. The student body includes the children of TBE members, the children of nonmembers, the children of two Jewish parents, and the children of one Jewish parent. Faculty help each child create their own connection to Jewish tradition, and families are invited to connect through family programs and Friday night dinners. Scholarships are available so that all families can participate regardless of personal finances. The school is supported in part by funding from the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.
Chaverim, the pre-K and kindergarten program, welcomes children ages four and five with stories, songs, games, crafts, and movement in a caring environment enhanced by natural, everyday Hebrew, meeting about two Sundays a month from 9am to 11am. First and second graders meet every Sunday from 9am to noon, with Hebrew reading taught over two years to give students time to integrate each letter and vowel they learn. Third through sixth graders meet every Sunday from 9am to noon and every Wednesday from 4pm to 6pm, with a core curriculum of t'filah, Tanakh, and Hebrew, including shorashim as part of the prayer program and project-based learning on Jewish figures, customs, lifecycle, Tikkun Olam, values, and Israel. Seventh graders preparing for b'nai mitzvah follow an innovative curriculum touching community, history, the synagogue, and Jewish texts, with trips across Maine, guest speakers, journaling, and interactions with community members. TBE Teens, the high school program, meets about twice a month on Sundays from noon to 2pm, with lunch provided, and plans events for younger KBE grades alongside discussions of topics such as antisemitism and relationship to Israel.
Lifelong Learning for Adults
Adult Jewish learning is a vibrant part of community life at Temple Beth El. The community meets in both formal and informal settings, offering a wide range of educational experiences: Torah study in cafes, Shabbatonim led by scholars in residence, academic courses in the library, and discussions about how to apply Jewish values at distilleries. Funded by an endowment from the Wilson Family, the adult Jewish learning program brings world-class scholars and thinkers to the community. Most sessions are free and open to all.
Children follow a more structured educational program in Kadima Beth El while adults engage in Torah study in a cafe, academic courses in the library, and conversations about Jewish values over drinks. The framing text of the program is a line from Pirkei Avot 4:1: Who is wise? One who learns from every person.
The Rabbis and the Staff
Rabbi Rachel Simmons-Blumenfeld (they/them) serves as rabbi of Temple Beth El as of July 2025. Rabbi Simmons-Blumenfeld was ordained at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles in spring 2022 and served as associate rabbi of Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, Maryland, from graduation until June 2025. Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, Rabbi Simmons-Blumenfeld graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary in 2009 with a dual degree in linguistics and German studies, spent years living abroad in Germany, Austria, Costa Rica, and Israel, speaks German and Spanish, plays guitar and piano, and worked as a preschool teacher at the Jewish Community Center in Washington before entering seminary. Rabbi Simmons-Blumenfeld finds great joy in leading prayer, providing pastoral care, and developing personal connections to Jewish rituals.
Rabbi Carolyn Braun is Rabbi Emerita, having served as the spiritual leader of Temple Beth El from 1995 to 2024. Raised in the San Francisco Bay area in a secular Jewish home, she knew at the age of ten that she wanted to be a rabbi. In 1988, after studying at the Hillel Foundation at MIT and earning a master's degree in Judaic Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary, she was ordained in the first class of women admitted to the rabbinical program. Following ordination she served for six years at Mount Holyoke College as the college's first rabbi and full-time Jewish chaplain, where she established the Kosher-Hallal Kitchen. Rabbi Braun brought a warm, egalitarian style of leadership to TBE and is known for encouraging deep, spiritual conversation. She serves on the Medical Ethics and Pastoral Services Committees at Maine Medical Center and on a number of statewide boards. She lives in Portland with her cat and her dog.
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman joins Rabbi Simmons-Blumenfeld each year to lead High Holiday services as chazzanit. Rabbi Shoshana has served diverse leadership roles in the Boston Jewish community, including Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai of Brookline, Director of the Artist Beit Midrash at Hebrew College, and Rabbinic Ambassador at Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, and is the author of two recent picture books.
Duane Nettles (he/him) is Interim Executive Director. Originally from New Orleans, Nettles served in operational and executive roles at congregations and nonprofits in New Orleans and Richmond, Virginia, following Hurricane Katrina. Shane Van Vliet (she/her) directs the Kadima Beth El Religious School and brings twenty-five years in the theater and entertainment industry together with a lifetime of Jewish education, including time growing up in synagogues with parents who ran the schools and led the boards. Sadie Stewart (she/her) is Operations and Events Manager, with more than a decade of catering and event work in the synagogue and in members' homes. Grace Kellar-Long (she/her) is Program Coordinator and Communications Manager, with a background in theater from Bowdoin College and work in Portland Stage and as a math and reading tutor. Mackenzie Crouse (she/her) is Office Administrator. Dave Carney (he/him) is Building Manager. Bob Bradbury (he/him) is the long-serving member of the maintenance team, and Garrett Stewart (he/him) is Security Staff, greeting everyone who comes through the door with a smile and the latest sports stats.
Life Milestones: From B'nai Mitzvah to Memorial Park
Life at Temple Beth El moves through the Jewish year and the Jewish lifecycle. The congregation welcomes new babies, celebrates b'nai mitzvah for seventh graders and beyond, supports Jews by choice through the conversion process, honors LGBTQ+ members and families, officiates at weddings, and walks with families through shiva and mourning. The b'nai mitzvah process begins in seventh grade with a curriculum that prepares students to become full citizens of the Jewish community. New parents and interfaith families are warmly welcomed, and the synagogue's Social Kashrut framework, discussed below, includes Jews of Color, interfaith families, those across the spectrum of income, class, and abilities, and those who may have been turned away from Jewish life in the past.
The congregation also owns and administers Temple Beth El Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery at 1 Johnson Road in Portland, with consecrated areas for members of the Jewish faith and an adjacent area for Jews and non-Jews who wish to be buried together. The cemetery is open Sunday through Thursday from 9am to 5pm, Friday from 9am to dusk, and closed on Saturday and select Jewish holidays. Records and an interactive map are available online, and the cemetery is the site of Kever Avot cemetery visits during the High Holidays season.
Social Kashrut and Tikkun Olam
Social kashrut describes TBE's effort to ensure that those who may have been turned away from Judaism in the past, including Jews of Color, LGBTQ+ Jews, interfaith families, and those across the spectrum of income, class, and abilities, can develop a sense of belonging at Temple Beth El. The principle is a spiritual and organizational one: TBE will be a healthier Jewish community when it fully incorporates the diversity that is the reality of modern Jewish life. The community has adopted a brit, a sacred contract of communal agreements, that acknowledges different experiences and multiple identities, accepts responsibility for considering how differences affect how people experience worship and belonging, affirms that there is more than one authentic way to be Jewish, sees all gatherings as opportunities to connect, assumes positive intent while acknowledging that intent differs from impact, and seeks to understand through brave, active listening.
Tikkun olam, repairing the world through social justice, is a guiding principle that inspires the congregation to take action both locally and globally. TBE has partnered with Jewish Family Services to support their Essentials Pantry by collecting shampoo and conditioner for local families throughout the High Holidays. The pantry provides household items not accessible through SNAP benefits, with products formulated for a variety of hair types especially needed.
The Building, the Lounge, and Shalom Community Park
The TBE building at 400 Deering Avenue is the hub of Jewish life in Portland. The primary entrance is on Wadsworth Street, in the semicircle; the school wing door is available as an accessible entrance for those unable to walk down stairs from the Wadsworth Street entrance into the sanctuary, and a staff member is posted there to assist. The TBE parking lot is reserved for accessible parking, and a wheelchair is available for those who would like additional assistance. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, special street parking permission allows parking on both sides of Devonshire Street, the TBE side of Deering Avenue, and the Temple side only of Wadsworth Street. The Portland Center for Assisted Living on Devonshire Street makes its lot available for limited High Holiday parking.
The newly renovated Lounge + Library offers comfy chairs, warm drinks, and an extensive collection of books for conversation, quiet reading, or personal reflection. The space embodies the community's commitment to learning and connection, with renovations made possible by the generous support of the Levine, Wallach, Drees, and Novick families and the Sam L. Cohen Foundation. The Library Catalog is searchable online. Shalom Community Park, a new collaborative effort between Temple Beth El and Levey Day School at the junction of Deering Avenue and Devonshire Street, is an inclusive park for people of all ages and abilities with the Goldman Family Playground, the Susan T. Goldberg Courtyard, and contemplative spaces including Debbie's Garden and Honey's Garden.
Getting Involved
Visitors and prospective members are warmly invited to explore TBE. A New Here? page offers a six-step path: hear from members about the community, meet the team, attend a service, attend an event, learn about Social Kashrut, and become a member. Office hours run by appointment on Mondays and Fridays, and from 10am to 3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Memberships are renewed annually. Donations are tax deductible, and members may also sponsor a Friday night oneg, a Saturday kiddush, or a flower arrangement in honor or memory of someone special, with a range of options prepared by the Kiddush Krew.
The synagogue runs on lay leadership. An active Board of Directors, currently led by President Sara Kahn-Troster, Vice-President John North Radway, and Treasurer and Secretary Brian Allenby, guides the congregation alongside clergy and staff. Committees, including the Family Engagement Committee and the Adult Jewish Learning Committee chaired by Judy Gatchell, do the work of the synagogue, and the Member Care committee reaches out to members during times of joy and challenge. Shofar, the congregation's newsletter, arrives in members' homes. Members and friends can stay connected through the calendar, livestreamed services, podcasts, social media, and an active calendar of community events.