Antisemitism, Jewish Life, and the Work of Understanding

Dr. Jeff Barkin and Dr. Lisa Belisle are joined by Rabbi Gary Berenson, founding executive director of the Maine Jewish Museum and rabbi of Etz Chaim Synagogue in Portland, for a conversation about antisemitism: its historical roots, its current expressions in Maine and on college campuses, and the difficulty of countering prejudice that is often centuries deep. Berenson traces the pattern of Jewish communities building stable lives only to be expelled or targeted, and he argues that what feels new to many Mainers is in fact a recurring cycle. He describes specific incidents, including a protest outside a community gathering at Etz Chaim, to illustrate that these pressures are local and immediate, not abstract.

The conversation turns to the more subtle, everyday forms of exclusion: being identified primarily by one's religion in professional settings, children learning to hide their identity in school, and the challenge of reaching people whose attitudes were shaped long before they entered a classroom. Belisle draws a parallel to her own experience as a woman physician and to a prior program conversation with Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance, about the cumulative effect of being consistently marked as other. Berenson describes the Delet program at the Maine Jewish Museum, which brings educators and public school students across Maine into direct contact with Jewish history and practice, as one concrete response to that problem. He points to the Osher Map Library at the University of Southern Maine as an example of how Jewish philanthropy has shaped public institutions that many people benefit from without knowing the connection.

In the final segment, Belisle asks Berenson to describe Jewish practice on its own terms: what Shabbat offers as a concept, how dietary laws like keeping kosher create both separation and opportunity for conversation, and how the ethical core shared by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam might serve as common ground. Berenson reflects on the synagogue's growth, its deliberate inclusivity toward interfaith families and people of varied backgrounds, and a new partnership with an alternative school that has significantly expanded youth participation. He and the co-hosts return repeatedly to a single practical argument: that one-on-one contact, across difference, does more to reduce prejudice than any top-down educational initiative, and that the work is ongoing.