Welcome to
Temple Beth El of Augusta, Maine
embracing a spirit of community, lifelong Jewish learning, commitment to inclusiveness, and active participation in Jewish life in Central Maine
Temple Beth El of Augusta, Maine
embracing a spirit of community, lifelong Jewish learning, commitment to inclusiveness, and active participation in Jewish life in Central Maine
artwork by Lenora Leibowitz
ABOUT US
Our Board of Directors
History
Temple Beth El was founded as the Augusta Hebrew Community in the 1940’s, meeting in a third-floor space in downtown Augusta. In the 1950’s, the Lipman brothers moved their chicken processing plant to Augusta, bringing more Jewish families to the area. The Lipmans spearheaded the building of our current space on Woodlawn Avenue, which was dedicated in March 1957.
In 1973 the Gardiner synagogue, Beth Israel, decided to merge with Temple Beth El and brought its members and its Torah scrolls to Augusta. The combined community made a decision to join the Reform movement in 1987.
Our Rabbi
Our Board of Directors
History
Temple Beth El was founded as the Augusta Hebrew Community in the 1940’s, meeting in a third-floor space in downtown Augusta. In the 1950’s, the Lipman brothers moved their chicken processing plant to Augusta, bringing more Jewish families to the area. The Lipmans spearheaded the building of our current space on Woodlawn Avenue, which was dedicated in March 1957.
In 1973 the Gardiner synagogue, Beth Israel, decided to merge with Temple Beth El and brought its members and its Torah scrolls to Augusta. The combined community made a decision to join the Reform movement in 1987.
Our Rabbi
Rabbi Susan (Dietz) Bulba Carvutto was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts. In 1968 she graduated from Harvard s Radcliffe College, where she studied ancient history toward her childhood dream of becoming an archaeologist. The sixties persuaded her to redirect her goals to something socially meaningful. She obtained a M.A. in Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1970 and became a public elementary school teacher.
Rabbi Susan eventually began teaching in Jewish day schools in the greater Boston area, including Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton, the Maimonides School in Brookline, Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead and the Solomon Schechter Day School of the Merrimack Valley in Haverhill, where she also served as administrator. In 1979-80 she studied at the Hornstein program in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University. From 1980-82 she taught at the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel. Upon her return, she directed the Hebrew School at Temple Beth Shalom in Peabody, Mass. During this time Rabbi Burton Padoll encouraged her to consider studying to be a rabbi, a dream that was inconceivable in her childhood. In 1993 she entered Hebrew Union College from which she was ordained in 1997. Since then she has served Temple Beth El as its first resident rabbi. She considers her role as rabbi as a continuation of her lifetime career as a Jewish teacher. Rabbi Susan takes great pride in her direct involvement in Temple Beth El’s outstanding Hebrew School, her outreach to the central Maine interfaith community, and in the deep pastoral relationships within our community which have developed after 14 years.
Portrait by Joe Michelson