Congregation Kol Ami (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Congregation Kol Ami
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism
Leadership	Rabbi Samuel Spector, Cantor Wendy Bat-Sarah
Status	active
Location
Location	2425 Heritage Way, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States 84109
Geographic coordinates	40°42′42.85″N 111°49′17.9″W
Architecture
Completed	1973
Website
https://web.archive.org/web/20140710125150/http://www.conkolami.org/index.shtml

Congregation Kol Ami is a synagogue located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is affiliated with both the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and, according to the synagogue, it serves 25% of the Jewish families in Utah.

Mission Statement: Congregation Kol Ami's mission is to provide Jews by birth, Jews by choice, and K’rov Yisrael interfaith families a place to join together as we worship, learn, and celebrate Judaism in a dynamic and caring community. Every person counts and everyone is welcome.

Congregation Kol Ami is a "congregation for all our people". A vibrant, inclusive, participatory, egalitarian synagogue that values the rich traditions of its peoples heritage. The congregation is a mix of Jews from many places and Jewish experiences, and their unique strength comes from their diverse backgrounds. Congregation Kol Ami is affiliated with both the Conservative and Reform movements and offer a variety of religious services, educational experiences, and countless opportunities for gathering together and schmoozing.

With a Religious School, of approximately 200 students The synagogue offers a broad curriculum enabling students of all levels to engage in the wonder of Jewish learning. Utah is proud of its active Jewish community including the I.J. and Jeanne Wagner Center, the United Jewish Federation, Jewish Family Services, the United Jewish Endowment Trust of Utah, the Joanne & Richard McGillis School, as well as local chapters of Hadassah, the National Council of Jewish Women, AIPAC, and the Utah Jewish Genealogical Society.   

Learning

Our educational programs are first-class, with an early learning center onsite, one of the finest fully inclusive religious schools in our city, and a robust adult education program. Our goal is to provide for a lifetime of Jewish learning. We also host a sizable library and media center, wherein our members may check out materials at no charge.

Prayer & Worship

With four active clergy members, the synagogue offers a dynamic blend of worship opportunities that span from the small and intimate to grand classical services incorporating music from our historic pipe organ. The main sanctuary, constructed in 1931, is on the National Register of Historic Places and provides a truly awe-inspiring space in which to practice Jewish ritual life.

Clergy

Senior Rabbi - Rabbi Samuel L. Spector

Rabbi Spector 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, a minor in Behavioral Psychology, 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 for three years as the student rabbi of Congregation Etz Chaim in Merced, California; a member of the Chaplain Candidate Program for the United States Navy; and as a chaplain intern at Los Angeles County/USC General Hospital. While in school, he led several teen trips to Israel and Eastern Europe.

Prior to coming to Congregation Kol Ami, Rabbi Spector served as the Associate Rabbi of Temple Judea in Tarzana, California, where he became recognized for his creation of young professional programming. While there, Rabbi Spector was an Edah Fellow through the Los Angeles Jewish Federation and the President of the West San Fernando Rabbinic Task Force and a delegate to the Jewish Welfare Board. He is currently a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and on the board for the Pacific Area Reform Rabbis.

Rabbi Spector brings his love of working with children and young families to Congregation Kol Ami. He is passionate about adult education, Israel advocacy, social action and social justice. He is an avid fan of baseball, Jewish history, and traveling, having been to over 46 countries.

Cantor and Educator - Wendy Bat-Sarah

Cantor Bat-Sarah earned a Master of Jewish Sacred Music and was ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion, CA in May, 2014. She received her commission from the Conservative Movement’s Cantors Assembly in May of 2018.

She has earned a B.A. in Social Anthropology with minors in Spanish and Russian from San Diego State University. Before coming to Kol Ami, she served the Jewish community in a wide variety of positions, including: ESL instructor in a Chabad Day School; Hillel Songleader in San Diego; teacher of Hebrew, Jewish Studies, Music, Tefillah, and Theatre in both day schools and supplementary schools; Chaplain at the Jewish Home for the Aging; Religious School Assistant Director; and Cantor.

Cantor Bat-Sarah is committed to creating and sustaining an intellectually and spiritually vibrant experience of Judaism for people of all ages.

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. .

After leaving Milwaukee, Rabbi Wenger andhis wife studied in Israel for a year, after which Rabbi Wenger accepted the position of Rabbi at B'nai Shalom Congregation, Huntington, West Virginia. 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 his wife 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.

Cantor Emeritus - Laurence 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, Loeb 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 Congregation Kol Ami, Cantor Loeb 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.

History

The congregation observed an Orthodox style of worship until 1883, when it joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Reform movement. In 1885, the members who wanted B'nai Israel to continue to follow Orthodox tradition split off to form their own congregation, Congregation Montefiore (which later affiliated itself with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism). In 1973, Conservative Montefiore and Reform B'nai Israel merged to form Kol Ami.

Salt Lake City’s Jewish community dates back to approximately 1854. The present congregation is the result of a successful 1972 merger of Congregation B’nai Israel (Reform founded in 1891) and Congregation Montefiore (Conservative founded in 1899). The Utah Jewish population numbers approximately 5,000, with membership at Kol Ami at approximately 350 family units, or roughly 1/4 of the Jewish population of Utah. Being a part of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Union for Reform Judaism gives the congregation a unique and enjoyable atmosphere to explore new ways of expressing Jewish faith.

In 1916, Simon Bamberger became the Jewish governor of the state of Utah. Louis Marcus became the first Jewish Mayor of Utah in 1932.

Kol Ami now counts more than 350 families as members, hosts a vibrant and inclusive religious school and one of the city's most respected early learning centers.

Notable events

In July 2014, a 22-year-old Salt Lake City man was convicted and sentenced to serve five years in prison for shooting out windows at the synagogue. The man, Macon Openshaw, was also ordered to pay over $1900(US) in restitution.

In October 2018 Congregation hosted an interfaith candlelight vigil in memory of those who died in the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Oct. 27.

External links

• Congregation Kol Ami website