- Avigdor Miller
Avigdor Miller (1908-2001) was a Haredi
rabbi , author and lecturer in theUnited States . He served simultaneously as a communalrabbi and as the "mashgiach ruchani " ("spiritual advisor/supervisor") ofYeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and as ateacher inBais Yaakov for many years.Biography
Rabbi Miller was born to a non-rabbinical family in 1908 in Baltimore. There were no yeshivas in those days, so he attended public school and went to an afternoon Talmud Torah. Once he had completed the regular Talmud Torah classes, the school arranged for him to learn privately with an old Lubavitcher chassid. Rav Miller recalled more than once that he spent two years studying Gemara with this teacher [ [http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=503613301 ZoomInfo Web Profile: Avigdor Miller ] ] . There was only one problem: the Talmud Torah “forgot” to pay the gentleman. Rav Miller never forgot that this rabbi continued to teach him without being paid and spoke about him with warmth and gratitude [ [http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=16510&mode=a&contentname=Rav_Avigdor_Miller:_The_Later_Years&recnum=4§ionid=14 Rav Avigdor Miller: The Later Years ] ] . Despite this difficult arrangement, Rabbi Miller became one of the Torah giants of his time.
Yeshiva University
At age 17, Rav Miller went to
New York and attended and graduated from Yeshiva College and RIETS, attaining a B.A. and rabbinical ordination, respectively.He was elected the student body president at the time, and was also the "baal korei".
Rabbi
Moshe Bick , known as the "Mezubizher Rav", who arrived in the United States in 1927, was one of Rabbi Miller's early study partners.At that time in
YU he joined a "chavura" together with five other young men (who all later became notableHareidi rabbis) to study Mussar from the book "Mesillas Yesharim " under RabbiYaakov Yosef Herman , a pioneer inOrthodox Judaism in America in the early 20th century. Rabbi Herman encouraged Rav Miller to travel to Europe to learn Torah in the prestigiousyeshiva s there. Rav Miller met RabbiIsaac Sher , the son-in-law of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, who was in New York to collect funds for theSlabodka yeshiva . Although it was during the Depression and he did not raise much money, he later declared this trip to America his most successful, since he was able to recruit and bring such a bright student to Slabodka.labodka yeshiva
In 1932, at the age of 24, Rabbi Miller arrived in
Europe to study at the famousSlabodka yeshiva inLithuania . There, he studied under Rabbi Sher. While he was in yeshiva, Rabbi Shulman of Slabodka, son-in-law of Rabbi Sher, introduced Rabbi Miller to Ettel Lessin, daughter of Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Lessin of Slabodka. The two married in 1935.In all the prefaces for all his books and on many of his tapes he says that everything that is un-sourced should be considered the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Sher, who was his primary rabbi.
Chelsea, Massachusetts
In 1938, due to the rise of
Nazism and the tensions leading up toWorld War II , Rabbi Miller sought to return to the United States with his wife and two children. Fortunately, the American consul in Kovno at the time was a Baltimore acquaintance of Rabbi Miller's, a public high-school classmate, who speedily arranged passage for Rabbi Miller's wife and children who had not been born in the United States.Upon his return, Rabbi Miller became the rabbi of a
synagogue inChelsea, Massachusetts . Initially, the community was taken aback by Rabbi Miller's audacious and intense volume of Torah presentations, attempting to restrain his unconventional approach. However, within a few years the community had radically changed their minds, and indeed besought Rabbi Miller to stay longer.Mesivta Chaim Berlin
In 1944, Rabbi
Yitzchok Hutner , "rosh yeshiva " ofYeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin , persuaded Rabbi Miller to become its "mashgiach ruchani ," in which position he served until 1964. In 1945, Rabbi Miller also assumed the pulpit of theYoung Israel of Rugby inBrooklyn ,New York City . In 1975, with neighborhood demographics changing, Rabbi Miller established the "Bais Yisroel of Rugby Torah Center" on Ocean Parkway in Flatbush, which served as his main vehicle of Torah dissemination until his passing.Yeshiva Gedola Bais Yisroel
In 1986, Rabbi
Shmuel Miller , Rabbi Avigdor's son, opened "Yeshiva Gedola Bais Yisroel " in Flatbush, where his father served as "mashgiach" and "rosh yeshiva". Rabbi Miller was also a revered and honored lecturer at many yeshivas andBais Yaakov schools throughout the years, cherished by his students.Character and personality
Rabbi Miller was a master orator, having superb command of the
English language . His personal magnetism drew students, young and old, from all Jewish backgrounds.Rabbi Miller also trained himself to demand very little physically. For more than sixty years, he slept on a board. As a student in Slabodka, he wore a coat during the summer to conceal the multitude of overlapping patches that were his trousers.Fact|date=December 2007
Though having attended public school at a time when there were no formal
yeshiva s in Baltimore, he only spoke Yiddish at home, never speaking in English to his family.Over a span of 50 years, more than 2,500 lectures by Rabbi Miller in English were published as tape cassettes, as well as several in Yiddish. He gave most of his lectures in his modest synagogue in Flatbush, dealing with Torah education and
self-help , of which several hundred thousand copies were sold. His tapes remain available for purchase through the yeshiva he established, and at many Jewish book stores, and can be found in many Jewish tape libraries. Rabbi Miller was also the author of several books aboutJewish history , Jewish thought,Evolutionary Theory , and other subjects. His tapes remain very popular after his death.Rabbi Miller was also a staunch opponent of
Zionism , in both its religious and secular forms. He was also an opponent of theTheory of Evolution .He was also known for his uncompromising approach to other streams of Judaism.
To Rabbi Miller, time was very precious and he would always be carefult never to waste it. In the 1980s, he told Dr. Yitzchak Levine that he wanted to visit the Lubavitcher Rebbe and ask about his schedule; he wanted to know whether or not he should continue giving shiurim as they took away previous time from his learning. However when he learned that the appointments with the Rebbe were typically late at night, he canceled to prevent further disruption of his strict schedule [ [http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=16510&mode=a&contentname=Rav_Avigdor_Miller:_The_Later_Years&recnum=4§ionid=14 Rav Avigdor Miller: The Later Years ] ] .
Quotes
Rabbi Miller has been noted for his ability to summarize great ideas into easily digestible
soundbite s. He once memorably said, "LearningMussar teaches one how to live, but learningBava Kamma "is" living."Awareness of creation's good
His foundation and biggest principle in this world was to awake his fellow listeners to the precious plan and purpose of every minute detail of life, and to make them happy and excited about its benefit. [YouTube montage of him speaking about the Apple [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx_NgHIBRt4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdixieyid%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F2007%2F09%2Frav%2Davigdor%2Dmiller%2Don%2Dappreciating%2Ehtml] .]
Anti-Zionism
Rabbi Miller was one of the first rabbis in America to voice his fervent opposition to the secular
Zionism movement, which he considered to be an anti-Torah movement that posed great danger to pure, traditional Judaism. He also opposed the religious Zionist movementHis first book, "Rejoice O Youth," was refused printing by Feldheim publishers due to its containing anti-Zionist statements such as, "the
Kotel is better of in the hands of the Muslims due to theirmodesty more than the Jews who defile the holy place with their Jewish immodesty".Fact|date=September 2007Death
Rabbi Miller was taken to
Maimonides Medical Center during "Chol HaMoed " ofPassover 2001. Though his physical health was deteriorating, his mental acuity remained intact until his passing. Rabbi Miller died on Friday morning, April 20, 2001.Funeral
At a memorial service the following Sunday, Rabbi Miller was eulogized by Rabbi Yosef Rosenblum, the "
rosh yeshiva " ofBeth Hamedrash Shaarei Yosher , RabbiShmuel Berenbaum , "rosh yeshiva" of Mir yeshiva and RabbiChaim Pinchas Scheinberg , "rosh yeshiva" of "Torah Ore ", who was in America on a visit fromJerusalem . Rabbi Miller's son-in-law Rabbi Shmuel Brog and his son Rabbi Shmuel also delivered eulogies.Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen, a grandson-in-law of Rabbi Miller, noted that Rabbi Miller's descendants married into the esteemed families of Torah scholars such as Rabbi Shmuel Ehrenfeld, the "Mattersdorfer Rav" (& Rabbi Cohen's grandfather); Rabbi
Reuven Grozovsky ; RabbiAaron Kotler and RabbiBaruch Sorotzkin , "rosh yeshiva" of Telshe. An estimated 30,000 people attended Rabbi Miller's funeral [cite web|title=A Giant Departs - The Death of Rav Avigdor Miller, ZT"L|url=http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/139/A_Giant_Departs_-_The_Death_of_Rav_Avigdor_Miller%2C_ZT%22L_(1909-2001).html|accessdate=16 January|accessyear=2006] .Rabbi Miller's body was transported to Israel, where a funeral was held at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem with a crowd of 25,000 people in attendance. He was eulogized by Rabbi Noson Tzvi Finkel (the Mirrer rosh yeshiva), Rabbi
Moishe Sternbuch and others. RabbiMatisyohu Salomon was in Israel at the time and he also delivered a moving eulogy. Rabbi Miller was buried on theMount of Olives in "chelka Tashach".At a later event at the end of the week of mourning Rabbi
Yaakov Perlow , the NovominskerRebbe , head of Agudath Israel and a pupil, remembered Rabbi Miller’s first days as "mashgiach" at Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin.After his death, a synagogue, Nitei Avigdor ( _he. נטעי אביגדור), was founded in Rabbi Miller's name in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The synagogue includes a library of Rabbi Miller's tapes. The founder and rabbi of the synagogue is Rabbi Avrohom Shlomo Yabo, who also gives lectures based on Rabbi Miller's teachings.
Bibliography
Rabbi Miller's prolific writings, which have influenced generations of students, include:
*"Rejoice O Youth!" (1962)
*"Sing You Righteous"
*"Praise My Soul"
*"Awake My Glory"
*"The Universe Testifies"
*"Behold A People"
*"Torah Nation"
*"Exalted People"
*"The Beginning" (1987)
*"A Nation is Born" (1991)
*"A Kingdom of Priests" (1994)
*"Journey into Greatness" (1997)
*"A Fortunate Nation" (2001)
*"Career of Happiness"
*"Lev Avigdor" ("לב אביגדור"), amussar sefer Additionally, more of his manuscripts are currently being edited and prepared for printing.Footnotes
References
*cite web|title=Remembering Rabbi Avigdor Miller|url=http://www.shemayisrael.com/jewishobserver/archives/nov/rbrog.htm|accessdate=24 April|accessyear=2008
*cite web|title=RAV AVIGDOR MILLER ZT"L (biography)|url=http://www.torahcenter.com/bios/miller.htm|accessdate=24 April|accessyear=2008
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