Avigdor Miller

Avigdor HaKohen Miller (August 28, 1908 – April 20, 2001) was an American Haredi rabbi, author, and lecturer.

He served simultaneously as a communal rabbi, mashgiach ruchani (spiritual supervisor) of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, and as a teacher in Beis Yaakov. After his son opened Yeshiva Beis Yisrael in 1986, Miller served as its rosh yeshiva (dean).

Miller was an American-born, European-trained rabbi immersed in the demanding Lithuanian academic and mussar traditions. As one of the earlier prominent rabbis to use the medium of tape to distribute Torah lectures to the public, he reached a broad audience.

Early life Miller was born Victor Miller in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a kohen. His father's name was Yisroel, and his mother's name was Hoda Riva Miller.

Although he attended public school, only Yiddish was spoken at home. After school, he attended an afternoon Talmud Torah. When he finished his regular classes at the Talmud Torah, the school arranged for him to learn privately with Avrohom Eliyahu Axelrod, a Lubavitcher Hasid. The Talmud Torah was unable to pay Axelrod, but he continued to teach Miller anyway. Miller would never forget that Axelrod taught him without being paid, and spoke about him with appreciation.

At age 14, Miller went to New York City to attend Yeshivas Rabbenu Yitzchok Elchonon, at the time the only American high school offering high-level Jewish learning. After this, he enrolled in Yeshiva College. He graduated from both Yeshiva College and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), attaining a B.A. and rabbinical ordination, respectively.

While a student at Yeshiva College, Miller joined a chaburah (study group) together with a few other young men to study Mussar from the sefer Mesillas Yesharim. The organizer of the chaburah, which met in Miller's dormitory room, was Yaakov Yosef Herman, a builder of Orthodox Judaism in New York City of the early 20th century. Some of the men in this group, which included Nosson Meir Wachtfogel, Yehuda Davis, and Mordechai Gifter, would go on to become notable Haredi rabbis in their own right.

Upon returning to the U.S., Miller became rabbi of Congregation Agudath Shalom in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Initially, the community was taken aback by Miller's audacious pedagogy, and the sheer volume of his Torah presentations, attempting in vain to restrain his unconventional approach. Within a few years, however, the community had changed their minds, desiring for Miller to stay longer. Miller received special dispensation to refrain from sending his young sons to public school. Instead, he had them tutored privately in secular subjects, and taught them Jewish studies himself. His sons still needed to appear at the public school twice a year for testing. This arrangement seemed to Miller to not be ideal; so, he began to look for a community with a stronger Jewish presence. In 1986, when his son opened Yeshiva Beis Yisrael, Miller served as its rosh yeshiva. He also believed that all Americans, including African Americans, have a right to equality. He stressed that it needs to be done peacefully and through legal means. However, he also criticized the Emancipation Proclamation, saying that it would have been better for African Americans to have endured another 50 to 100 years of slavery in order to "civilize" them. When asked "Someone told me that you said that slavery wasn't wicked", Miller responded "I didn't say that it wasn't a wickedness to enslave people. I said the literature about slavery is often exaggerated - it's not the full picture."

Miller was a supporter of police brutality against criminals. Before the 1976 elections he said, "We need more police brutality. And although innocent people might suffer sometimes, it pays." After the Kent State shootings, where three Jewish and one non-Jewish student were shot by the Ohio National Guard at an anti-Vietnam War protest, Miller stated he sent a letter of congratulations to the government, saying

He said in another Q & A "We should put American flag stickers on our automobile windows. We should display signs, “We support our boys in Vietnam,” or wherever they are. All the peace talk is nothing but communist-inspired talk and don’t be deceived about that. All the liberals in the colleges have been tainted by the ferment of communism. Don’t be deceived! They have only one purpose and that is to destroy the country."

Miller was outspoken in his belief that the Holocaust was a divine response to Jewish cultural assimilation in Europe. He wrote:

Miller was a staunch opponent of Zionism, in both its religious and secular forms, and was known to help the Satmar Hasidim translate their anti-Zionist ads in The New York Times.

Miller was known to lambaste other Orthodox Jewish organizations, such as the Orthodox Union, for allowing the teaching of the scientific theory of evolution. He referred to the killer of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a "decent gentile".