“My name is Mustafa, and I am from Gaza,” declared the 16-year-old perched, however improbably, on a picnic table near the shore of Pleasant Lake, Maine. His backdrop — just days after sheltering from the Israeli mortars exploding near his home — was New England’s White Mountains. “I lived 20 days in third war. I…
Josh Nathan-Kazis checks out his roots in Fort Kent, Maine. Everyone in the Facebook group called “You know you grew up in Fort Kent, Maine, when…” is talking about my great-grandfather. I’ve been lurking all day. The great thing about travel writing in 2014 is that you can eavesdrop on locals’ reactions to your story…
Camp Modin, in the Belgrade Lake district, is New England’s oldest summer camp. // Courtesy of Camp Modin 1) Jewish population as of 2012: 13,890 2) The Portland JCC opened in 1938. 3) Camp Modin, established in 1922 in the Belgrade Lake district, is the oldest Jewish camp in New England. 4) Susman Abrams (1743-1830.,…
My grandmother grew up in a big house on a hill in Fort Kent, Maine, a few hundred yards from the Canadian border. The house had a porch and a turret and, in the bathroom, a Jewish ritual bath. My grandmother’s mother was a religious fanatic. Her father, Jake Etscovitz, was the Potato King. Though…
One of the first things Rabbi Alice Goldfinger said as we sat down for our interview is that she would likely forget all about me. “I’ll know you were here, because the appointment is in my calendar,” she said. “But I won’t remember it. I have no short-term memory. I don’t feel time, so by…
