Jews have been living in Maine, a state in the northeastern United States, for 200 years, with significant Jewish communities in Bangor as early as the 1840s and in Portland since the 1880s. The arrival of Susman Abrams in 1785 was followed by a history of immigration and settlement that parallels the history of Jewish immigration to the United States. The first recorded Jew in Maine was Susman Abrams, who arrived in the area in 1785. Abrams, originally from Hamburg, Germany, first settled in the town of Waldoboro and worked as a peddler. Abrams would later move to Thomaston and then Union, where he opened a tannery. In 1810, he married widow Mary Jones of the town of Friendship, a Christian. Abrams died on October 6, 1830 at about 87 years old. Small Jewish communities began forming across the state, with German Jews settling in Bangor by 1829. The Jewish community in the city of Bangor would be the first to found a synagogue when they founded Congregation Ahawas Achim in 1849. Ahawas Achim would close seven years later, and its members left the state for other Jewish communities. As of 2012, the Jewish population in Maine is nearly 14,000 and spread out over several communities. Auburn-Lewiston The first Jewish residents came to the Lewiston-Auburn area around 1865 and were largely merchants. It wouldn't be until the 1920s when the area would receive its first formal places of Jewish worship: Beth Jacob Synagogue in Lewiston and Beth Abraham Synagogue in Auburn. Prior to these congregations a more informal place of prayer and religious education called a shul, a Yiddish word derived from the German word for school, existed to cover the needs of the community. Beth Jacob, located at the corner of Shawmut and Sabattus Street in Lewiston, considered itself Orthodox in its religious practice, but allowed for mixed seating during services. In addition to the two synagogues, the community was served by the Jewish Community Center on College Street in Lewiston. In 1981, the Beth Jacob congregation merged with the Community Center to form a new institution: Temple Shalom Synagogue Center. Temple Shalom is an unaffiliated congregation. Population data over the years First Jewish resident recorded in 1865 Highest population estimate 1955-1965 : 1400 Latest population estimate 2007 : 600 Current Jewish organizations Temple Shalom Synagogue Center (Independent) Jewish Student Union Major events and milestones Early immigrant period (pre