Utah is probably the only place where a Jewish political candidate has ever been criticized for being a gentile. On the campaign trail in 1916, Simon Bamberger, who was elected the state´s first and only Jewish governor, had to argue his way into a meeting hall by saying, "As a Jew I´ve been called many a bad name, but this is the first time in my life that I´ve been called a damned gentile."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormons formally are called, is based in Salt Lake City and is a dominant presence in the region. In a custom some Jews find disconcerting, the church describes all non- Mormons as gentiles.
The majority of Utah Jews live in Salt Lake City, but nearby Park City - home of the Sundance Film Festival - has a growing Jewish population and its own synagogue. Whether they´re called gentiles or not, Jews definitely are a minority in Utah.
Nonetheless, Salt Lake City, which is hosting the Winter Olympics beginning Feb. 9, has had a Jewish presence for almost 200 years and today is home to more than 3,500 Jews.
Leaders of the small community report good relations with the Mormon establishment.
The region boasts a brand-new Jewish community center just yards from the Olympic Village - although the facility has more non-Jewish members than Jewish ones - a Reform-Conservative synagogue and Chabad house, each of which have a mikvah, and a Reconstructionist congregation.
The Jewish community is hosting two receptions for Israeli and other Jewish athletes. In addition, the Olympics will host an exhibit on the history of Utah´s Jews, which will appear together with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum´s traveling exhibit on the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Salt Lake City´s Chabad rabbi, Benny Zippel, will serve as the Olympics´ Jewish chaplain.
Given the heightened security arrangements in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, even Zippel won´t know until the last minute just how many Jewish athletes are competing, or who will be needing his services.
Utah´s first Jewish settlers arrived in the 1820s. Most were fur trappers, explorers and, later, merchants capitalizing on the California gold rush, said Eileen Hallet Stone, author of the book "A Homeland in the West: Utah Jews Remember," and curator of the Olympic exhibit on Utah Jews.
In the 1860s, Utah´s small community of Jewish merchants suffered from a boycott of non-Mormon stores. Ultimately they wrote to Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, asking him to buy out their businesses.
Young didn´t, but the boycott eventually was lifted, Stone said.
Another milestone in Utah Jewish history came in 1911, when approximately 200 Jews arrived as part of a communal farm. The farm failed within a few years due to poor training and difficult agricultural conditions, but some of the Jews remained.
In recent years, Utah´s Jewish community has been relatively stable – with an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 Jews - said Teresa Bruce, executive director of United Jewish Federation of Utah.
The federation raises just less than $600,000 a year, she said.