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Carved eagle for Anshe Sfard synagogue Torah ark, Portland, ca. 1917

Contributed by Maine Historical Society Item 100320 enlarge zoom 

The carved eagle served as an ornament for the ark that held the Torah at Anshe Sfard synagogue on Cumberland Avenue in Portland. Chassidic Jews from Eastern Europe who came to Portland in the late 19th century built the synagogue in 1917.

Animal and bird carvings are typical of Eastern European synagogue ornamentation.

Morris Isenman rescued the eagle and other materials after the synagogue closed in the 1950s.








Anshe Sfard (Portland, Me.)
Jewish art and symbolism
Urban renewal--Maine--Portland
Jewish communities--Maine--Portland


Jewish communities
