WATERVILLE, Maine — Rabbi Rachel Isaacs spent the days leading up to it Easter Overseeing the preparation of ceremonial foods at Congregation Beth Israel, a synagogue in central Maine where membership has quadrupled over the past 15 years.
These days, growing congregations are on Isaac’s mind, as she leads a movement to strengthen rural synagogues and Jewish communities across the country. They’ve reached dozens, and are hoping for more.
“Rural Jewish life is important to the Jewish people and it is important to rural America,” Isaacs said. “These people deserve service and care.”
Isaac is executive director of the Center for Small Town Jewish Life at Colby College, a liberal arts school in Waterville, Maine. The center began a decade ago with the goal of supporting Jewish congregations far from major cities, and has grown to run programs for more than 60 communities in 22 states.
Just under 2.4% of Americans are Jewish. Of those millions of people, one in eight live outside a major metropolitan area, and the center is there to help them thrive, Isaacs said.
The center’s work is taking place at a vital time, with the number of synagogues in America down about 20% from what it was in 1990, according to data compiled by Alana E. Cooper, a professor of Jewish studies at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. This trend is most evident in rural America, where aging populations and population relocation have severely hurt religious congregations.
Outreach to rural synagogues also occurs at a time when American Jews encounter a Rising wave of anti-Semitism Violent attacks against Jewish communities. The Anti-Defamation League noted a nearly 900% increase in anti-Semitic incidents for the decade ending in 2024. Some states with a high rate of incidents include largely rural states like Maine, New Hampshire and Wyoming, the Anti-Defamation League report said.
The center’s work can help reverse that trend, Isaacs said.
“You have more Jews who feel joy, who can find strength, and form relationships with other Jews across the country and around the world,” Isaacs said. “In a world of increasing anti-Semitism, it is more and more important for Jewish communities to be happy, strong and interconnected.”
Since its founding, the center has helped congregations from Maine to California, Montana and Texas.
Isaac is also the rabbi of Beth Israel, a century-old synagogue just down the road from Colby and the only one within 20 miles of the college. The synagogue has grown along with the center, but the work of the Center for Small Town Jewish Life extends far beyond Maine, she said.
Congregations that have relied on the center said its contributions are vital in a country where the overwhelming majority of the Jewish population has been urban since the early days of the exodus. In Helena, Montana, Rebecca Stanfill, executive director of the Jewish Project of Montana, said the center has been instrumental in helping bring together the relatively small Jewish community in her vast state.
Connecting far-flung faith communities together is crucial in a place like Montana, Stanfill said.
“In Helena, we have no choice but to rely on volunteers. If we want to have something like Easter, it has to come from the local community,” Stanfill said. “This is also a really important model for people outside of rural America.”
The center helps congregations through three strategies aimed at strengthening rural synagogues. One is MAKOM, a two-year mentorship program for rabbis earlier in their service to rural synagogues.
Other trains place leaders to lead prayer and support congregations, helping them succeed without a full-time rabbi. The third is Board Leadership Training, which trains synagogue presidents and boards on how to run Jewish institutions in small towns.
Rabbi Lisa Rappaport, who leads Congregation Beth Israel in Chico, California, was among the first to participate in the Macomb program. Rural rabbis often lead the only Jewish congregation in the city, and that makes the work “special, beautiful and challenging,” she said.
The Macomb Fellowship Program elevates rural rabbis to this challenge, Rappaport said.
“We felt as rabbis in small communities that our work was just as important,” she said.
In Waterville, volunteers, ranging from Colby students to retirees, were preparing to host about 100 people for Easter. “It may be a small community, but it’s a strong, loving community,” synagogue member Jeff Lovitz said, folding napkins.
“We have been here since the early 1970s,” he said. “Our children used to go to Hebrew school here.” “I think it’s important to have a Jewish community in Waterville.”