An Illinois native, Carol Flank moved to Denver in 2021 to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. She was retired and her partner had passed away, so she decided it was time to make the move. Since she belonged to a conservative synagogue in the Chicago suburbs, she looked into conservative congregations in Denver. After visiting some, Carol realized they were too far from her house.
“I lived close enough to walk to my synagogue in Illinois,” Carol explains. “And while I wasn’t looking to be that close to a temple in Denver, I knew I needed to be near enough to want to drive there on Friday nights. My son-in-law told me about Temple Micah, so I went to check it out.”
Connecting to Temple Micah Through Music
The first service Carol attended was a Reggae Shabbat in January 2022. “My late husband loved Bob Marley and his music was on in our house a lot when my daughter was growing up,” Carol fondly recalls. “That music brought back some wonderful memories of the three of us ‘hanging out with Bob Marley,’ so that drew me into Temple Micah, and I joined shortly after.”
Now she always makes it a point to attend the musically-themed services. “The community feeling is so strong during those services,” Carol says. “When we sing ‘One Day,’ for example, I come out feeling like there’s a lot of good in the world and if we keep putting one foot in front of the other, we’ll get through these difficult times.” Carol also enjoys the musical elements that Hal and David bring into services and how she can easily sing along, and she loves Rabbi Mo’s creative storytelling when he talks about the parshat of the week.
How Carol Participates in the Micah Community
“I like being part of a community, particularly now when there’s so much negative information about Jews and Israel,” Carol adds. “It’s so nice to look at the variety of people and say, we might have different ideas on other things, but we agree that Judaism is important and we want to keep it alive, we’ve got to be here.” Carol also appreciates how Rabbi Mo hands out bracelets with different messages on them every year during the High Holydays. She says, “The one he passed out two years ago really spoke to me, and I wear it often. It said, ‘If you believe you can break, believe you can repair.’ At that time, I was feeling really broken, and this spoke to me and served as a good reminder.”
Carol regularly attends Shabbat in the Park, High Holyday services, Passover Seders, Chanukah and Purim celebrations, and the Spring Fling. She recently went to her first Shabbat Tisch and really enjoyed that.
Carol loves when she can share holiday celebrations and other Micah programs with her family. For example, when Micah moved from Park Hill United Methodist to its current home at Montview, the congregants ceremoniously carried the Torah from one building to the other. Carol asked Rabbi Mo if she and her grandkids could offer coffee and juice to the participants partway through the walk. Of course he said yes, and they got drinks at Starbucks and handed them out, which was a great way to talk to people and be part of the community.
Teaching in Temple Micah’s Religious School
A couple of years ago, when Temple Micah’s Religious School had just moved to St. Elizabeth School, Carol mentioned to Rabbi Mo that she was a retired teacher and always enjoyed teaching. That fall, he reached out to see if she would teach the Minis (Kindergarten and 1st grade). “I thought it would be fun and it fit with my schedule, so I accepted the offer,” says Carol. “I enjoy meeting the families and keeping my hands in Jewish education.”
Carol’s dad and grandma were both teachers and great role models. In Illinois, she taught high school for 33 years and subbed for 10 years after retiring, and also taught Religious School to young children in her synagogue. “It has been wonderful to step back into this role for a couple of Sundays a month at Temple Micah,” Carol says warmly. “Teaching with Micah keeps me in my happy place!” She also credits PJ Library for helping make her job easier by providing so many great resources, including music, books, and curriculum ideas.
Describing Temple Micah as a “small and welcoming community,” Carol encourages others to check it out, especially during a musically-themed Shabbat!
Thank you, Carol, for being such a vibrant member of the Micah community, and for sharing your love of Judaism with our youngest members.
If you would like to share a story with our community, please fill out this form or contact Alaina Green, communications manager.
