It All Started With a Google Search
Who knew that a Google search could be so life-changing? In 2008, Katie Leighton was engaged to Andy and needed to find an “open-minded rabbi who would perform a ceremony with someone who was in the process of converting to Judaism.” Katie explains, “We literally Googled ‘rabbi who will perform an interfaith wedding’ and found Rabbi Mo at Temple Micah.”
The couple sent an email and received a thoughtful reply with Rabbi Mo’s thoughts about interfaith marriages. “We met Rabbi Mo, loved him, and the rest was history!” says Katie with a smile. After attending services and some pre-marital meetings with Rabbi Mo, the couple was married in 2009 and officially joined Temple Micah.
The Importance of Youth Education
The Leightons have been active members ever since and are very involved in youth education. Since Rabbi Mo knew that Katie was a public school teacher, he approached her about teaching a religious school class in 2010. Katie and Andy co-taught 2nd grade that year, and then Andy continued on his own the next year as the couple welcomed their first child in 2011. Katie has taught religious school off and on for the past 15 years and even stepped in as interim religious school director last year. In addition to teaching 8th-grade US History in public school, Katie currently educates 4th- and 5th-graders at Micah’s religious school.
As they now have three children, most of their connection to Micah has been through religious school and the kids. Katie says, “We go to Shabbat in the Park a lot in the summer, and we enjoy the musically-themed Kabbalat Shabbats.” Their son became a bar mitzvah in 2024, and their daughter is preparing to become a bat mitzvah later this year, so you’ll see the Leightons at many Shabbat services!
Rabbi Mo is There for the Big Life Events
Rabbi Mo has been instrumental in many of the Leighton family’s important moments. He blessed both of the houses they’ve owned and named all three of their kids, including their middle child while they were living in Boston. “We moved to Boston for two years while Andy got his master’s degree,” explains Katie. “It was important to us that Rabbi Mo still did the naming ceremony so we came back to Denver for the naming.” The Leightons even tried attending a reform synagogue while living in Boston, but it wasn’t the same as Micah.
“I love how real and honest Micah is,” says Katie. “Our values align in terms of being a little more critical of Israel and their human rights violations. I like that we can have open dialogues about this topic, as opposed to feeling like we can’t say anything because it would be an attack on Israel.” Katie was also proud to be part of the Micah community when they housed a refugee named Araceli. She adds, “I was glad that Micah was stepping out on a ledge and protecting vulnerable people.”
Micah is the place where my family has found Jewish connection.
Andy was raised in a conservative Jewish household and Katie grew up without any formal religion. “When I looked at converting to Judaism, it felt like a perfect fit because I was raised with so many similar values, such as B’tzelem Elohim (we’re all made in the image of God),” Katie says. She adds, “Temple Micah, being what it is, helped Andy reconnect with his Judaism in a meaningful way. We’re free to do what works for us and find what’s meaningful, rather than the idea that ‘you grew up with it, so you do it just to do it.’”
Katie describes Temple Micah as “a small, intimate, extremely kind, and overwhelmingly welcoming community. It is not overly preachy; it meets you where you are and you’ll find something that will speak to you. Micah is the place where my family has found Jewish connection.”
If you would like to share a story with our community, please fill out this form or contact Alaina Green, communications manager.
