Sign In Forgot Password

Rabbi Samuel L. Spector

rabbi@conkolami.org • 801-484-1501

Rabbi Samuel L. Spector has been the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami since 2018. He was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. He attended the University of California, San Diego, where he was an active brother of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. Rabbi Spector graduated with Cum Laude honors with a B.A. in Judaic Studies and was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He received his Masters in Hebrew Letters and Rabbinic Ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.

While in rabbinical school, Rabbi Spector served as the student rabbi of Congregation Etz Chaim in Merced, California and as a member of the Chaplain Candidate Program for the United States Navy.

Prior to coming to Congregation Kol Ami, Rabbi Spector served as the Associate Rabbi of Temple Judea in Tarzana, California. He is currently a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and serves on the advisory board for the Salt Lake Chamber and the Christian Center of Park City.

He is an avid fan of baseball, Jewish history, and traveling, having been to over 60 countries. He is conversational in Hebrew and Spanish. In his free time, you can find Rabbi Spector playing with Nezek, his Brittany Spaniel, and Walter, his Chocolate Lab. Rabbi Spector is married to Jill, an Idaho-native, who works in hospitality; they are proud parents of their daughters, Miriam and Esti, and host parents of Yasamin, a high school student from Afghanistan.

Cantor Sharon Brown-Levy

cantor@conkolami.org • 801-484-1501

Cantor Brown-Levy has more than two decades of cantorial experience and is uniquely certified in cantorial arts from both the Reform Movement’s American Conference of Cantors and the Conservative Movement’s Cantors Assembly. Prior to her arrival here in Utah,she served pulpits in Toronto, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Florida.

She holds summa cum laude degrees in Spanish and Voice from the University of South Florida and was class valedictorian of Gratz College in her native Philadelphia.

Cantor Brown-Levy is also fluent in Spanish and has been trained in the musical genres of opera, operetta, Broadway, folk, contemporary, and big band. Her concert career spans the U.S. and abroad. She is also a respected choral conductor, co-leading one of the country’s largest community interfaith choirs, Voices in Harmony.

She is a devoted parent, wife, teacher, linguist, and community builder. She is married to Eytan Levy (a rabbi’s son) and they have one son, Mattan.

Rabbi Emeritus Frederick L. Wenger

Rabbi Frederick L. Wenger was born in Davenport, Iowa and raised in Rock Island, Illinois. He received his AB from the University of Chicago and his Rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio. He served as a U.S. Army Chaplain in Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Vietnam. After his discharge from military service, Rabbi Wenger served as Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Emanuel-El B'ne Jeshurun, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he met and married his wife, Rochelle in 1973.

After leaving Milwaukee, Rabbi Wenger and Rochelle studied in Israel for a year, after which Rabbi Wenger accepted the position of Rabbi at B'nai Shalom Congregation, Huntington, West Virginia. Their two children, Haim and Miriam, were born in Huntington. Over his extended career, Rabbi Wenger progressed to pulpits of increasing responsibility at Temple Beth-El, Overland Park, Kansas and Temple B'nai Israel, Skokie, Illinois.

The Wenger family moved to Salt Lake City in 1987 after Rabbi Wenger assumed the pulpit at Congregation Kol Ami. Rabbi Wenger has served on the boards of major organizations in the Jewish and general communities. In 1994, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Wenger retired from Congregation Kol Ami in 2003.

Following his retirement, Rabbi Wenger and Rochelle volunteered four months a year for several years at Hadassah Neurim and Nahalal Youth Villages in Israel. He also served as Rabbi-in-Residence at Congregation Beth Sholom, Anchorage, Alaska from 2004 to 2007. Rabbi Wenger has been teaching World Religions at Westminster College in Salt Lake City since 2001. He also served on the faculties of Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia and Brigham Young, University, Provo, Utah. Rabbi Wenger currently teaches and provides rabbinic services to Congregation Kol Ami, the place the Wengers call home.

Cantor Emeritus Laurence D. Loeb

Cantor Loeb has been in the Cantorate for over 50 years. He was the youngest graduate ever from the Cantor's Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He continued graduate study at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Ethnomusicology and received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University.

Using his background in Jewish music and anthropology, he studied the music and culture of the Jews of Iran. Based on that study, he published a book titled, 'Outcaste: The Jews of Southern Iran'. His subsequent anthropological research involved a Yemenite Community which now resides in Israel.

A member of organizations which reflect his interests in Jewish music, Anthropology, and Jewish culture, he has written and spoken extensively about these subjects.

After serving as Cantor for ten years on the East Coast, Laury moved to Utah, with his family over 40 years ago. Cantor Loeb retired from the University of Utah where he was a faculty member of the anthropology department and served as Department Chairman for six years.

At Kol Ami, Laury is grateful to have been able to serve as Cantor of the Congregation for over 40 years. He finds special joy in having taught over 400 successful B'nai Mitzvah.

Cantor Loeb is married to Nomi. Their three children grew up in Salt Lake City and graduated from our Religious School. Their daughter Roni lives in Israel with their four children. Their son, Gabi, lives in California with his family. Their youngest daughter, Adina, lives in Washington, D.C. with her family.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784