Utah’s Jewish communities spending more than ever on security amid spike in antisemitism

Jewish congregations in Utah are spending more than ever on security amid an increase in antisemitism locally and nationwide after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the resulting retaliation in Gaza.

Rabbi Samuel Spector of Salt Lake City’s Congregation Kol Ami said his community has upped its spending on security to roughly $500,000 this year — much of it on hiring off-duty police officers.

Additional investments have included dozens of security cameras and other security upgrades to the facility, including new doorways.

There are signs that these efforts are paying off, Spector said, explaining that his congregation discovered one person complaining online that he or she wanted to vandalize the synagogue but hadn’t found an opportunity due to the tightness of security.

“Unfortunately, this is our new normal now,” Spector said, explaining he had recently visited synagogues in Boise and Montgomery, Alabama, that were making similar investments.

Judi Amsel, a member of Ogden’s Congregation Brith Sholem’s leadership team, said the synagogue had begun “brick-and-mortar” security upgrades after the 2018 attack on the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue in which a gunman shot and killed 11, wounding six others. Since Oct. 7, she said, the congregation has accelerated those projects.

Rabbi Helene Ainbinder of St. George’s Beit Chaverim Jewish Community of Greater Zion also reported greater spending on security for the small congregation, which meets inside a Presbyterian church.

Ainbinder stressed that southern Utah’s Jewish enclave “benefits from the support of the Christian community in the area,” calling it “overwhelming.” Even with that support, though, she said she has stopped wearing her yarmulke in public except for rare occasions.

Amsel, likewise, expressed appreciation for the community’s support during a time of “heightened unease,” citing an email she’d recently received from a retired member of the military offering to provide free security.

At the same time, Amsel said, the congregation has endured multiple bomb threats. She also cited the University of Utah student protests against Israel’s attacks on Gaza as a cause for alarm for members of the congregation.

In Salt Lake City, Spector said he has been bombarded by threatening emails, social media posts and phone calls since Oct. 7. In that time, his congregation has faced four bomb threats and, on multiple occasions, people have driven through his synagogue’s parking lot shouting obscenities.

The rise in antisemitism faced by Utah’s synagogues coincides with an uptick across the country.

The Anti-Defamation League reported in January a 361% leap in what the organization calls “antisemitic incidents” — from verbal harassment to physical assault — nationwide between Oct. 7, 2023, and Jan. 7, 2024, when compared to the same period a year before.