Kol Ami News

For most of us, the war in Israel is a dull ache, a reminder whenever one happens to glance at the news that after all these years hatred is still thriving in the Middle East.

But here, at the Kol Ami Synagogue in the Salt Lake foothills, it’s more than that, much more. As sundown approaches on a recent Friday afternoon, signaling the start of the Jewish Sabbath, a police car, manned by an off-duty cop, is parked at the entrance, its blue and red lights flashing — the standard greeting now for congregants as they arrive for evening services. They pass through recently upgraded motion-detecting floodlights and then wait to be buzzed in at the front door.

Security is always an expense at the synagogue, as it is at virtually all Jewish places of worship, but Rabbi Samuel Spector says since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Kol Ami has been compelled to spend thousands more on safety measures.

The answer to ending the madness, to seeing the police car turn off its lights and drive away?

“Stop hating Jews,” is the rabbi’s short answer. “Let the people live and live in peace.”

The rabbi is no militant, no warmonger. He’s long been a proponent of the moderate idea of carving out a portion of Israel and giving it to the Palestinian people for their home. As he sees it, if there’s anything good to say about the current situation, it’s that it could pave the way for the two-state solution to finally become a reality.

“I actually have more hope for two-state than I did before Oct. 7,” he says. “I feel like (before the war) there were people on the extreme right who said all this should be ours and people on the extreme left who said why can’t we all just get along and create one country. Now, I think both extremes have realized that’s not going to be the case.”

He continues, “The far right had always said, ‘Vote for us if you want safety and security,’ and now we’ve seen the biggest collapse of security in Israel’s history and largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, so I think this has revived the opportunity for more moderate leadership in Israel. I don’t think Israel will tolerate any more Gaza being led by Hamas, so hopefully there will be people who take over in Gaza who will feel the international pressure for a two-state solution.”

Meanwhile, he sees no other course than to continue to battle an enemy whose pronounced goal is the extermination of Jews.

“The Hamas charter openly states it is committed to genocide of the Jewish people,” he says. “They’ve said Oct. 7 is just a preview, that they’re going to do this a thousand more times. If Israel laid down their weapons, there’d be a second Holocaust.”

Rabbi Spector was in Israel twice last year, in August, about a month before the Hamas attack, on a congregant synagogue trip, and again in November, about a month after the fighting began, as part of a fellowship of young American rabbis. The trip had been scheduled long before the war, and he could have stayed safe at home, as some rabbis elected to do. But Rabbi Spector decided to go. “The point of our trip was to strengthen ties and show the Israelis they’re not alone, so our trip seemed more important than ever,” he says.

The atmosphere he felt between the two visits was night and day.

In the August visit, “It was in the midst of the judicial reform debate and I’d never seen a country more divided,” he says, “and in November, I’d never seen a country more united.

“It felt a lot like the United States on Sept. 12, 2001,” he continues. “People were heartbroken and at the same time doing all they could to pull together. I was in a hotel where everybody else was an internal refugee who had been displaced from the southern border. People just showed up at the hotel, shouting in the lobby, ‘I have a washing machine, who needs their clothes washed?’ It didn’t matter if you were religious or secular, a man or a woman, straight, gay, Jewish or Muslim or Christian, everybody had been affected by this war and everybody stepped up to help each other. That was incredibly inspiring.”

All while the threat of war was unrelenting.

“When I checked into my hotel, they told me where the bomb shelter was, and to take my shower in the morning because Hamas usually fires its rockets in the evening,” says the rabbi.

Here at home, he’s seen a similar coming together by his congregation — the largest in Utah at some 1,200 members. Although it’s not universal. “Some have been inspired to come out more,” he says, “and there are some who said they’re too scared to come.”

He reviews the reasons why: “Since Oct. 7, we’ve received four bomb threats, we’ve had protesters outside our building protesting the Israeli government — when we’re not the Israeli government, we’re a synagogue of Jewish Americans — we had a guy who drove through our parking lot screaming oaths at us, we had someone who drove at a bunch of us on the sidewalk, we have received numerous voicemails and emails that are threatening in nature.”

And so life goes on. At the Kol Ami Synagogue, situated on a beautiful plot of land overlooking the lights of Salt Lake City, surrounded by peaceful east side neighborhoods, in the land of the free and the brave, the cold hard truth is that it requires an act of courage just to go to a service.

“It’s something we’ve dealt with our entire history,” Rabbi Spector sighs. “It’s sad, but there hasn’t been a time when we haven’t been hated, when we haven’t had people trying to kill us.”

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Bonneville Elementary School principal Karen Holman, like most school principals at this time of year, was looking forward to winter break.

Instead of relishing the slide into the long-awaited vacation, teachers at the Salt Lake City public school were leading delicate classroom discussions Monday morning after their school was defaced with hate-filled words and symbols over the weekend.

“We shared some messages with our students this morning to their age-appropriate level because some kids knew about it and some kids didn’t but we didn’t want to have them hear the playground talk about it,” Holman said.

The fifth graders created and hung a decoration in the school hallway that says “Love is powerful.” Other children, unprompted, colored papers with messages about love, acceptance and dignity.

“It’s amazing to watch these kids turn and be like, ‘We’re not going to lower ourselves to the standard of what was done to us,’” Holman said.

Shortly before 11:30 a.m. Sunday, a community member reported finding hate speech sprayed on school property, according to Salt Lake City police.

Officers found racist, homophobic and antisemitic hate speech and symbols painted on school property. Some of the messages were written with white chalk. Officers also found hate speech directed at people with physical disabilities.

The incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to police.

Rabbi Samuel Spector of Congregation Kol Ami said a family who attends the synagogue also has children who attend Bonneville Elementary. They asked him if they should send them to school.

“It’s unfortunate that here in America and here in Salt Lake City, Utah, people can be made to feel unsafe and wonder if sending their children to elementary school is the right decision,” he said.

As the Bonneville Elementary School community dealt with the vandalism and messages of hate left at the school, three bomb threats were leveled against Congregation Kol Ami in recent days, one on Friday, the last day of Chanukah, and two on Monday.

“We’ve seen a 400% increase in antisemitism in the United States since Oct. 7, when antisemitism has already been at an all-time high each year for the past eight years. What this stuff does is, it’s just trying to instill fear and terror into Jewish communities. Unfortunately, it’s occurring everywhere,” said Rabbi Spector.

In a recent conversation with his wife, Rabbi Spector said he asked, “Where would we go that does not have antisemitism?”

“We couldn’t think of a single place. So unfortunately, this is our reality. Utah is a wonderful place to live, but unfortunately, we’re not immune to the problem of antisemitism here as well,” he said.

In times like these, “just know that your Jewish friends need love and support. They need to know that there are far more people here that love them than hate them. Our Jewish institutions right now are being bled dry because of the amount of money we’re all having to spend on security is beyond some of our means. We’re having to dig deep to find that money and we just need to know that people love us and that you know, that they recognize that we’re going through a challenging time.”

Rabbi Spector said Brown and Mendenhall also reached to him personally, which meant a great deal. In addition, police deployed canine officers to clear the buildings at Congregation Kol Ami.

On the one hand, there is much appreciated support but there is also a lot of misunderstanding about the religious community.

“Regardless of your views on the Hamas/Israel war, your local Jewish community is not the Israeli government or the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). While we stand with Israel, we are not the army, we are not the government. Targeting us because of issues you might have with the Israeli government or Israel’s military operations is a form of antisemitism,” he said.

Neither bomb threats nor protesting outside Congregation Kol Ami synagogue “is going to make an impact on the war on the other side of the world, one way or another,” Rabbi Spector said.

“It’s just going to terrorize innocent American Jews and in this case, with an elementary school, our synagogue and preschool, they’re children who have nothing to do with any of this conflict,” he said.

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SALT LAKE CITY — In downtown Salt Lake City, the Gallivan Center shines with the glow of a menorah, symbolizing the unity and resilience of the Jewish community on the fifth night of Hanukkah.

Leaders from both the Jewish and broader community came together, emphasizing a shared commitment to combatting recent challenges and promoting inclusivity.

Miles away, a new and heartwarming movement “Project Menorah” is gaining momentum on social media, encouraging people of all faiths to extend their love and support to the Jewish community.

“This year has felt uniquely somber,” said Alex Shapiro, executive director of the United Jewish Federation of Utah. “Since Oct. 7, the daily lives of many in the community have been filled with worry, strain, anger, and mourning.”

As the menorah stands illuminated, it becomes a symbol not only of Hanukkah but hopefully one of love and acceptance.

In its second year, Salt Lake City and Jewish leaders have come together for the annual menorah lighting. Rabbi Samuel Spector has stressed the profound significance of the ceremony, especially during these challenging times. He expressed pride in being a part of Salt Lake City, a city that resoundingly rejects anti-Semitism and all forms of hate.

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