FOCUS

Trying To Stay Jewish
In Rural
New England

DEBRA NUSSBAUM COHEN

I

yndonville, Vt., (JTA)
— Far from the politi-
cal jockying and infor-
mation overload that
mark the meetings of
organizations focused on the
interests of urban and subur-
ban Jews, 500 Jews from
rural New England gathered
here recently for the 10th an-
nual Conference on Judaism
in Rural New England.
At Lyndon State College,
on top of one of Vermont's
smaller Green Mountains,
these Jews came together in
early Summer for fellowship,
prayer and learning.
Those who came represen-
ted every type of Jewish ex-
perience. Some were old,
some very young. Some

were yeshiva educated, oth-
ers Jewishly ignorant. A few
were observant, most were
secular. There were intellec-
tuals and laborers, political
progressives and conserva-
tives.
They were mostly from
Maine, New Hampshire and
Vermont, with a sprinkling
from southern Quebec,
Massachusetts and northern
New York state.
But they all came hoping
to find the same thing: a
connection to Judaism, and
to each other as members of
the Jewish community.

To be a Jew in the open,
Anglo-Saxon Protestant
spaces of "The North Coun-
try" means living in "the di-
aspora of the Diaspora,"
said organizer R.D. Eno.
It means living among
folks who, more often than
not, have never met another
Jew in their life and have no
idea what being Jewish
means.
It means "people asking
you 'What do you do at
Christmas?' even after they
know you're Jewish," said
Nancy Sugarman, from
Rutland, Vt.

North Country
living means
being asked how
you celebrate
Christmas
by people who
know you're
Jewish, but don't
know what
that means.

Many of the area's Jews
hide their Jewishness from
public view and live as
"hidden Yidden," cut off
from their faith and culture.
"As a Jew in rural New En-
gland, I have often felt in-
visible," said one conference
participant.
Among other problems
faced by Jews here is the
lack of attention they re-
ceive from mainstream Jew-
ish organizations.
Mr. Eno had to close his
popular K'fari newspaper —
the only Jewish publication
for Jews in Vermont, Maine
and New Hampshire — a
year ago, for lack of funding.
He is now shutting down the

K'fari Center for the same
reason.
The Center had planned to
hire an "itinerant" rabbi
who would periodically visit
all the area's Jews, but was
not able to find a way to
fund the position. Mr. Eno is
bitter about the lack of sup-
port.
"There's a lot of hand-
wringing going on in the big
Jewish groups over the at-
tenuation of Jewish life in
America. But this is where
Jewish life is thriving and
being nourished," he said.
"The point is, we're the ones
struggling to bring that
Jewish consciousness into
our lives and into the lives of
our children."
Many of the Jews here are
urban refugees. Some fled an
observant upbringing in
which they felt tradition was
"shoved down their
throats," according to one
common refrain.
Others came to the moun-
tains of New England look-
ing for an alternative to the
suburban Reform lifestyle of
their youth, which they felt
was devoid of meaning.
To be sure, there is a New
England social culture that
attracts people who have
more than a fondness for
tofu and Birkenstock san-
dals — people perhaps best
described as non-
conformists.