Of Ben and Jerry’s, Maple Syrup, Bernie Sanders and 8 Other Things About Jewish Vermont
Made in Vermont: In 1977, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened the first Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream Parlor in Burlington. Image by Getty Images
1) 5,285 Jews live in Vermont.
2) The interior of the so-called Lost Shul of Burlington (better known as the Chai Adam synagogue) was painted in 1910 by Ben Zion Black and is currently in the process of being restored.
3) In 1977, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened the first Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream Parlor in Burlington.
4) Vermont Pure Maple Syrup, produced by the Green Mountain Sugar Refining Company, has been certified kosher.
5) Former Vermont poet laureate Robert Frost had a longstanding friendship and correspondence with Rabbi Victor Reichert.
6) Bohemian-born pianist Rudolf Serkin co-founded the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Marlboro.
John Fishman Image by Getty Images
7) Author Jamaica Kincaid, who converted to Judaism, lives in Vermont where she once served as president of her synagogue and where she set her novel “See Now Then.”
8) John Fishman, drummer for the band Phish, studied Engineering at the University of Vermont.
9) Foul-mouther Pulitzer Prize-winning author, screenwriter, director and playwright David Mamet’s 2002 memoir “South of the Northeast Kingdom” described how living in Vermont helped to shape his art.
10) Noted politician and part-time baseball player Miro Weinberger is the mayor of Burlington.
11) Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was born in New York, the son of Jewish immigrants. He is currently said to be planning a 2016 presidential run.
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