As a combined Jewish Federation, Community Center, Family Services program, the JCA is here to be a resource. for the entire Southern Maine community.

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Mission

To educate, advocate and collaborate on issues of vital importance to the Jewish community, based on consensus, civility, and a commitment to Jewish values of social justice. Our Community Relations Council envisions a just society with strong and vibrant Jewish communities world-wide, and seeks to enhance that strength through collaboration with other faith and cultural communities. The CRC strives to present a unified and clear voice for the broader Jewish community in response to incidents of anti-Semitism, bias and hate speech in Maine and to be a resource for Maine’s elected officials on matters that relate to the Jewish community.

Creating communal space for engagement on issues related to pluralism, and combatting bias, antisemitism and prejudice, is urgent and necessary work. With the support of the Sam L. Cohen Foundation, we planned to offer the “Community Seder” interfaith program for the second year in a row, but the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak; we treasure the relationships built through this program and look forward to offering it again as soon as possible.

If you’d like to learn more about the CRC or would like to get involved, please contact Program Director, Ilana Gilg.

ADL’s Breaking Down Bias (summer 2024): facilitator guided 4-week online course on core anti-bias topics and strategies for bringing anti-bias education to the classroom.

Teaching Guides: comprehensive, open-access guides using common-core curriculum, teaching Holocaust using survivor testimony and primary sources

Echoes & Reflections: provides webinars and professional development programs for middle and high school educators on the Holocaust.

Mini-lessons: short, self-paced digital learning experiences that explain ADL’s anti-bias framework, core themes like what is bias, microaggressions, and the pyramid of hate, and other topics in 25 minutes or less.

Facing History & Ourselves’ tools for educators: on responding to antisemitism in the classroom

Not In Our School lesson plans: inspires students of all ages to develop and share innovative ways to resist bullying and promote a school environment of acceptance and inclusion.

Holocaust Education Training Videos: on demand professional development videos for educators produced by US Holocaust Memorial Museum. The videos are paired with turnkey Museum-created resources, including lesson plans and digital learning tools. It includes guidelines for teaching about the Holocaust, appropriate pedagogy, and classroom strategies.

ADL's K-12 Lesson Plans: Resources for classroom instruction that promote critical thinking and assist educators in teaching current and historical events and themes through the lens of diversity, bias and social justice.

Facing History & Ourselves Lessons and Mini-Lessons: to help educators discuss challenging current events and explore pivotal periods in history with students.

US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Fundamentals of Teaching the Holocaust: provides educators with US Holocaust Memorial Museum resources to teach about the Holocaust and inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today. Complete with sample lesson plans, instructional videos, and an ability to connect with Museum educators for support.

Holocaust Education Curriculum: A series of classroom-ready multi-part units from Echoes & Reflections that cover pre-war Jewish life, antisemitism, Nazi rise to power, the “Final Solution”, Jewish resistance, genocide and more through primary source resources and video testimony from Holocaust survivors and witnesses.

ADL’s Anti-Bias Tools and Strategies: Comprehensive resources that provide a wide range of tips, tools, strategies and lessons around a theme for K-12 educators, administrators, students and family members to promote safe, equitable and respectful learning environments.

ADL’s Books Matter: A curated list of over 800 children’s and young adult literature focused on a wide range of themes, including bias, diversity and social justice.

ADL’s Table Talks: Discussion guides and information that provide parents and family members with tools to engage their families in conversations about important news stories and other timely discussions about societal and world events.

ADL’s Curriculum Guides: Common-core aligned classroom-ready resources and curriculum, available in print or digitally, are used to teach anti-bias skills and concepts in the elementary, middle and high school classroom.

ADL on Sutori: A collection of resources and virtual student-facing classroom presentations and lessons.

ADL on Flip: Conversation starters, questions or homework assignments to further classroom conversations around ADL topics and themes.

HHRCMaine Anti Bias Toolkit: A toolkit created by the Holocaust and Human Rights Council (Maine) that includes ten possible actions for schools to begin examining equity within their own school.

Online Learning for Students

ADL’s Awareness to Action: Challenging Antisemitism: new in March 2024, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) free online course on antisemitism is geared toward middle and high-school-age students. The class includes four modules and completion takes approximately 1.5-2 hours.

ADL Echoes & Reflections Digital Activities: 15 online, self-directed activities to increase student knowledge about core topics of Holocaust history, antisemitism, and related issues.

ADL mini-lessons and mini-courses: digital learning activities that students can access independently or as part of a lesson to explore topics like identity, bias, bullying, and online hate.

In-person resources for students and teachers

No Place for Hate: In ADL’s student-led, school-wide program, both students and staff engage in dialogue and active learning on topics like bias, bullying, and allyship, catered to a school’s specific needs and culture.

Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine’s (HHRC) educational programs: 14 educational programs for students that can be held at your school or during a visit to the HHRC in Augusta.

Holocaust through Visual Culture at Bowdoin College: NEH summer seminar and resources for local materials for K-12 teachers.

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We Stand With Israel

On October 7, 2023, during the holiday of Shmini Atzeret, Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza, firing thousands of rockets, breaching the country’s borders, with significant numbers killed and hospitalized. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was at war to defend itself and gave the order for the IDF to commence "Operation Swords of Iron.”

Jewish Federations are responding, working with our core partners to support victims of terror, help rebuild damaged infrastructure, and address the unprecedent levels of trauma caused by this horrific attack.

Now, more than ever, they need your support. Israel will prevail and the Jewish people will stand together as we always do. Am Yisrael Chai.