SOME JEWELS OF MAINE: JEWISH MAINE PIONEERS, by Celia C. Risen, Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc., Pittsburgh, 178 pages, paperback, $14.

“Some Jewels of Maine: Jewish Maine Pioneers” is Celia Risen’s second book. Her first, published in 1988, is titled “Yankee Fiddler: A Man Called Suss.” Both books are about the Jewish families who came to settle in Maine. With “Some Jewels of Maine,” Risen focuses in depth on several of the immigrants and their families who came to settle in various parts of the state during the late 1800s and early 1900s. She carries their stories to modern times after explaining how the immigrants came from Russia and Eastern Europe to escape the pogroms, persecution, and conscription into the czar’s army.

The now-retired teacher became interested in the Jewish history several decades ago while she prepared to teach English as a Second Language to immigrants in Maryland where she lives. As she interviewed them for the class, their stories sparked an interest that led Risen to pursue their family histories more deeply.

She continued to pursue that interest through the summers she and her family spent in Maine beginning in 1955.

“Some Jewels of Maine” captures the lives of the Jewish pioneers and their struggles of living through the hardship of language, culture, religious barriers in a new, foreign land. What they left behind in the old country were even greater hardships. What they became in the new land was a distinct and unique people who prospered, for the most part, despite the barriers and because of the barriers.

The push to succeed and the hard-working diligence of the Jewish people who came to settle in the state are a part of the legend and lore of many Maine communities. From the beginning of their arrival, even without knowledge of English or without much capital, these Russian and Eastern European immigrants touched the lives of the people in the state.

“I wanted to show the ESL students what others were able to accomplish even though they came with no money, no skills and no knowledge of English,” Risen says. The book speaks to many of us about the valuable contribution these immigrants made to their culture and the economy of the state.

For me, the interweaving of other cultures with the Jewish immigrants is adeptly illustrated. I can add my own personal testimony, coming from the French-Canadian (Franco-American) culture, about the interactions with many of these Jewish immigrants, or their descendants. As I was growing up, the Jewish people were held up as a good example, and I was told about how they often aided their own to succeed in the world of commerce. The local paper would advertise the “Founder’s Day Sale” of the local Jewish clothier. The ad featured a peddler’s wagon because that was how the business had started. My mother worked for two such clothiers.

She, like many other Francophones, was hired to work in the store because of her bilingual skills. The hiring of bilingual employees featured prominently in the way these Jewish pioneers would learn to do business in the language of their customers.

Later in my childhood, our family raised chickens for a Jewish business enterprise. My aunt would tell me stories of the Jewish peddler in northern Maine and of his interaction with the French community there. In reading Risen’s book, my own life’s history was revealed to me through the stories of the many Jewish families that affected the communities where they came to work and live.

The Jewish pioneers came to Maine because the climate and landscape resembled the ones they had left behind. Immigrant followed immigrant as well. The economy in Maine was one which allowed immigrants to learn a trade, peddle, apprentice or become independent workers. Many who started out as peddlers prospered to become merchants, factory owners, chicken plant processors, distributors of goods and services, and community leaders.

Because education was important, the second and third generations were able to attain college educations and become doctors, lawyers and professors.

Religion also played an important role in their lives. Maintaining kosher homes and Jewish religious observances were a part of their integration in the community. Synagogues were begun when there were enough Jewish families in a town to support it. When faced with anti-Semitism, they responded by creating fraternities, support networks, lending agencies and other organizations to counteract the prejudice they faced. Some communities were more accepting than others. Risen often points out that the Jews and the French often faced the same core of prejudice — that which was directed toward cultures other than “Yankee.”

Risen writes in a style of “the pot of living” which is open-ended and stirs in details through a cultural language that reflects Jewishness. She expounds on proverb, humor, philosophy, poverty, success and failure.

Many will recognize the names of families which read as a who’s who of many Maine communities — names such as Sterns, Bernstein, Povich, Berliawsky, Lown, Wolman, Lipman, Goldsmith, Cohen, Cutler, Etscovitz, Levine and many more whose enterprise touched the lives of thousands through the years.

Each chapter interviews one family which leads to the next chapter like a string of pearls of influence. Each chapter also focuses on an issue, cause or concern close to the individuals featured.

Risen began her connection to Maine in 1955 when she and her husband sent their children to the camps developed in the state for Jewish children, and later they began summering here on a tree farm in central Maine every year from June till September. Her intimate knowledge of the Jewish communities captures the flavors of each and reflects it to the reader in detail and accuracy.

“Some Jewels of Maine” is an important book to add to the libraries, classrooms, curriculums and pleasure reading lists because of how these pioneers have touched our lives. As a reading public, we need to know their stories. As a multicultural, international community, we are enriched by our collective history.

Rhea Cote Robbins lives in Brewer with her family and is the author of “Wednesday’s Child,” which won the 1997 Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance Chapbook Award.