Kol Ami News

Executives at Entrata, the Utah company whose founder was ousted last week over an antisemitic screed, called on a local rabbi to help them understand the roots of their former colleague’s bigotry.

Rabbi Sam Spector was met by a level of angst and a gift he did not expect on Friday. He left Entrata’s offices with a six-figure pledge from the company to complete his synagogue’s capital campaign — funds that will allow the congregation to, among other needs, buy a new boiler and repair damaged Torah scrolls.

“They’re all just crying and saying this has been the worst week of any of their lives,” Spector said.

Spector said he walked executives at the property management software company through the history of classic antisemitic conspiracy theories like the blood libel and the claim that Jews were responsible for spreading the Black Plague through Medieval Europe.

But Spector said Entrata’s chief executive Adam Edmunds wanted to do more –- something big for the state’s Jewish community –- and asked Spector what his Congregation Kol Ami, which serves 350 families in Salt Lake City, needed most.

“My synagogue is falling apart, basically,” Spector said. The building is 50 years old. The bathrooms, seating and even the prayer books haven’t been replaced in decades. The total for the boiler alone, crucial during Utah winters, came to $150,000.

“They said, ‘We’re going to take care of all that for you,’ and they made the largest donation we’ve ever seen,” Spector said.

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