Kol Ami News

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.

View the video