Cantor Uri Neil
Cantor Uri Neil, the religious leader and cantor from 1990 to 2007 at Mt. Sinai in Cheyenne, Wyo., passed away Sept. 5, 2019. He was 81. Rabbi Larry Moldo will lead the memorial service for Neil on Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m., at Mt. Sinai. Friends are encouraged to share their memories of the cantor.
“My condolences on the loss of Uri,” Rabbi Harley Karz-Wagman, a former rabbi at Mt. Sinai, the temple after learning of Neil’s death.
“Please pass my prayers to his wife Chris, as well as the Weisman family and Dorothy Feldman.
“I had the honor to meet with Uri at his home and to bring him back to Cheyenne to thank him [and encourage him to share] a taste of the inspiring spirit which led our shul for so long.”
Uri Neil was born May 5, 1938.
While serving as religious leader and cantor at Mt. Sinai, the cantor blended modern and traditional melodies, including chasidic and Israeli.
He also wrote and arranged popular cantorial pieces.
Mt. Sinai dedicated the Tree of Life stained glass window in Cantor Neil’s honor in 2011.
“His warmth and enthusiasm were contagious,” said Mt. Sinai President Dave Lerner.
Copyright © 2019 by the Intermountain Jewish News
A wonderful person who could accomodate himself to any circumstance A gifted enthusiastic teacher who could encourage and motivate the most lackluster student – A tremendous resource to the Denver and Wyoming community with an all encompasing knowledge of liturgical issues as related to modern Jewish and Israeli life
I audited his Hebrew poetry course at DU and then took it again for credit Uri instilled a love and understanding of the subject
Uri was my Moreh at DU when I took the Hebrew course. He was a good person that once saved my life. We played racquetball and tennis together. My parents and myself were watching the local news when they announced that Michael Neil had aced the SAT test. I told my parents that has to be Uri’s Michael and sure enough when I called Uri it was Michael. The last time I saw him we had lunch together at the Bagel Deli & Restaurant. Uri imbued the blessings of modesty, kindness and generosity the descendants of Avraham Avinu are blessed with.
נוח על משכבך בשלום ישראלי