Utah rabbi shares experience after returning from Israel
11/22/2023 07:10:22 AM
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah rabbi returned to the Beehive State on Tuesday, after spending a week in Israel, a month and a half after the attack coordinated by Hamas.
Rabbi Sam Spector with Congregation Kol Ami left for Israel on Sunday, November 12.
He went to Israel as part of a delegation of about a dozen rabbis from across the country, called 'Amplify Israel'. Rabbi Spector was the only member of that delegation from Utah.
"It was very powerful to be there during this time," said Rabbi Spector.
He says they were largely in Tel Aviv, but went to Jerusalem and a couple of other places.
Rabbi Spector says they did a lot of volunteer work, visiting communities that had been evacuated and helping those who had been displaced.
By: Chris ArnoldPosted at 10:21 PM, Nov 22, 2023 and last updated 10:21 PM, Nov 22, 2023
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah rabbi returned to the Beehive State on Tuesday, after spending a week in Israel, a month and a half after the attack coordinated by Hamas.
Rabbi Sam Spector with Congregation Kol Ami left for Israel on Sunday, November 12.
He went to Israel as part of a delegation of about a dozen rabbis from across the country, called 'Amplify Israel'. Rabbi Spector was the only member of that delegation from Utah.
"It was very powerful to be there during this time," said Rabbi Spector.
He says they were largely in Tel Aviv, but went to Jerusalem and a couple of other places.
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Rabbi Spector says they did a lot of volunteer work, visiting communities that had been evacuated and helping those who had been displaced.
"We also met with many families who were bereaved from having lost loved ones in this war or on October 7," said Rabbi Spector.
He says he got to meet family members of hostages and hear their stories and from others who lost loved ones during the war.
"I'm a father and a husband and I heard from a man who lost his leg in the war, on October 7 and his 15-year-old son was killed in his arms and his wife also died in his arms and hearing his story is something I'll never forget," said Rabbi Spector.
Muslim and Jewish Utahns agree: We’re frightened and feel less safe than ever
11/15/2023 06:00:04 PM
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Rabbi Samuel Spector no longer asks Jewish Utahns how they’re doing. The leader of Salt Lake City’s Congregation Kol Ami already knows.
“Nobody,” he said, “in my community is doing well.”
Since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians and Israel’s subsequent bombings in Gaza, he said, the east-side synagogue has received a bomb threat and a slew of threatening calls and emails “saying just horribly vile stuff.”
Utah Muslims, meanwhile, are facing “hate at unprecedented levels,” Luna Banuri of the Muslim Civic League said, explaining that the reports of hate incidents to her organization have quadrupled in the past five weeks. This rise in Islamophobia comes despite the fact that the violence occurring in Israel and Gaza represents, she said, “a political war,” not a religious one.
Conversations with her and Spector, as well as other Jewish and Muslim leaders in the state, revealed two minority faiths reeling from the effects of individuals they say have been emboldened in their hate.
Ron Zamir is the vice president of community relations for the United Jewish Federation of Utah. In addition to having family members who were killed or left in critical condition during the Oct. 7 attacks, he and other members of his Jewish community confront a level of fear when going about in public or to worship at the synagogue that they haven’t known in a long time, if ever.
“I’ve lived here 20 years,” he said. “This is the least safe it has ever felt.”
According to Rabbi Spector, some members of his synagogue have stopped attending services out of safety concerns, while others have pulled mezuzahs — a small box containing Torah verses — off their door frames, or stopped wearing their kippahs, also known as yarmulkes, and other outward signs of their Jewish faith.
“At the same time,” Spector said, “we have people coming to the synagogue more now because they need that support and want to support their Jewish community. Some people are wearing kippahs because they don’t want the people trying to scare them to win, and are actually becoming more involved and present here, and are more openly sharing that they’re Jewish.”
Utah rabbi heads to Israel with delegation of rabbis from across United States
11/12/2023 09:31:25 PM
SALT LAKE CITY — A delegation of rabbis called "Amplify Israel" is headed to Israel as the country's war with Hamas continues.
In all, the group is made up of 13 rabbis from all over the United States who will be in Israel this week, including one from right here in Utah.
Rabbi Sam Spector has been the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City since 2018.
"Several months ago, a fellowship was put together of young rabbis, progressive rabbis who support Israel," he said.
Spector says the delegation is made up of rabbis in the first 15 years of their career. He says discussions were had on whether to even make the trip once the war broke out between Israel and Hamas last month.
"We figured that there's never been a more important time for us to express and show our solidarity with Israel," he said.
For the next week, Spector and the delegation will be focused on helping in a variety of capacities.
"Helping people who have been directly affected by this war who have family members who are currently held hostage, who have family members that were killed, to people who've been displaced from their homes," Spector said.
He says they will also be visiting the injured in the hospitals and meeting with organizations on the ground to try and help. They will be primarily in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
"The challenge too for us is that when you're in Israel, you need to be 20 seconds from a bomb shelter at all times," Spector said.
On Sunday, FOX 13 News spoke with Ron Zamir, the vice president of community relations for the United Jewish Federation of Utah.
"You know, these have been hard times and are hard times for our community," said Zamir.
That's why Zamir says it's so important to have a member of the clergy here in Utah on the ground in Israel.
"He represents a pathway to understanding and peace," Zamir said of Spector. "I think he's going to bring back that first-hand experience that's going to help us process our own feelings, but also help us build bridges."
And what is Spector hoping to accomplish over the next week?
"That we see that we're together in good times and bad times, and that we can do some good over there and help some people," he said.
Spector said he was flying out Sunday afternoon. After a long layover in Paris, France, he says he expects to be in Israel Tuesday morning or late Monday night, Utah time.
He says he will be keeping Congregation Kol Ami updated every day via Zoom, letting them know what he experienced on that particular day.
Utah Palestinian, Jewish communities grieve loss of civilians killed, kidnapped in war
10/31/2023 11:23:08 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Palestinian and Jewish communities in Utah are grieving the loss of the civilians who have been killed or kidnapped since the war between Israel and Hamas started at the beginning of October.
As of Sunday, 200 Israelis are being held captive and nearly 8,000 Palestinians have been killed.
On Sunday afternoon, the Jewish community met at the Utah State Capitol for a vigil and to pass out fliers for the hundreds of Israeli civilians being held hostage.
“I think the world is focusing a lot on what is happening in terms of violence and is already forgetting why this war began, which was because Hamas savagely attacked Israel and killed 1,400 innocent civilians,” Congregation Kol Ami Rabbi Sam Spector said.
They laid out shoes on top of the fliers to visually represent those who have been kidnapped.
“When you see an actual visualization and see a teddy bear for every child or a pair of shoes for every person, a table set up on Shabbat with empty seats including highchairs for each one of these individuals, it brings it home that each of these is a unique person,” Rabbi Spector said.
He said he hopes that the end result of the war will be a more peaceful future for everyone in the region.
“It's important for everyone out there to remember that, on both sides, there are everyday innocent people who are good people,” he said.
Officials provide update on state of Salt Lake Jewish, Muslim community safety following bomb threats
10/13/2023 10:46:31 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Five days after reports of threats towards Jewish centers in Salt Lake were publicized, officials are continuing to take steps to ensure the safety of the city's Jewish and Muslim communities.
Officers of the Salt Lake City Police Department said that they initiated enhanced surveillance of three Salt Lake City Jewish centers beginning Saturday, Oct. 7, following the decrement of war in Israel.
On Sunday, Oct. 8, reports surfaced of multiple bomb threats targeting Jewish institutions across Utah, including at least three Salt Lake City locations. Rabbi Sam Spector of Congregation Kol Ami located at 2425 Heritage Way told 2News that he was holing a service that morning when the institution received an email stating that "there had been a bomb placed in the building" and that they "were all going to die." The synagogue, along with two others in Salt Lake City, were evacuated and swept, all of which resulted in the determination of no suspicious evidence.
Following this event, police announced Thursday, Oct. 12, that they had increased patrol efforts of the three Jewish centers, adding that they were also taking steps to protect the Muslim community and their institutions.
The agency's Intelligence Center has reportedly been collaborating with state, regional, national and federal law enforcement officials to continue to manage the situation. The department as a whole is working in conjunction with agencies across the nation in preventing any further criminal activity and establishing the safety of these communities.
Salt Lake City police said they have been and plan to keep in contact with Jewish and Muslim leaders throughout the city to provide updates on the state of affairs.
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