To Be Jewish in Maine: Just Sayin'

They don't have this here, among other things.

I was born 68 years ago in Brooklyn, New York, in a Jewish hospital in a neighborhood full of Jews. We moved to Long Island when I was a year old, where I grew up eating bagels and lox and celebrating Hanukkah and Passover but still playing with all the Catholic kids on my street, none of whom treated me any differently than they treated each other.

There were lots of Jews and non-Jews in my high school, and lots of black kids too. Everyone always got along just fine. My religion never seemed to be an issue for me or anyone else. Eventually I married a Christian boy I had met in college and his parents loved me and accepted me instantly.

Years later I married another Jew after the first guy turned out to be Mr. Wrong. We lived in Washington, D.C. and then moved to Utah for his work. All the Mormons were intrigued by us and were extremely nice. We made good friends. I was hired for several jobs in the four years I lived in Salt Lake City. One was as a columnist for the Mormon-owned daily paper.

Eventually returning to Washington D.C., things were peachy. Lots of bagels and lox, but also lots of other things. Oddly enough, my closest friends were not Jewish, but nobody ever thought a thing about it. Again I had many jobs, both full-time and freelance, and lots of dinner invitations.

Six years ago we moved to Maine. We have no friends here, except for one or two neighbors who have been superficially kind. I have interviewed for many positions, all far below my pay grade if you get my meaning, and been passed by. I have not been accepted as a volunteer at several places, one of them being the local YMCA. (ha!) Recently I was "fired" from a volunteer position which turned out to be a total waste of time and gave me absolutely no pleasure, but still, I was always punctual, willing and diligent, so wtf?

Besides New York, D.C. and Utah, over the years I've also lived in California and Maryland, but it's only been here in Maine, America's whitest state, where Jews comprise 1% of the population (in Utah that figure is .0.2%), that I finally understand how discrimination works: Stealthily, and under the radar.