Photos by Rabbi Barry Altmark
Surrounded by family and an interfaith assortment of clergy, Rabbi Jonathan Miller receives the priestly benediction on Aug. 25.
Emanu-El celebrates the legacy of Rabbi Jonathan Miller At the end of the community Shabbat service honoring Rabbi Jonathan Miller on Aug. 25, he stood in front of the open ark as Rabbi Laila Haas and Cantor Jessica Roskin recited the priestly benediction over him. About 20 family members and clergy of numerous denominations also surrounded him, reaching out toward him. It was a moment reflective not just of his 27 years leading Alabama’s largest Jewish congregation, but also his activism in Birmingham’s interfaith community. Joe Bluestein referred to Miller as an After 27 years as “ambassador of Temple Emanu-El and rabbi, “I am now the Jewish people of Birmingham to the faith community of Birmingham and blessed to be the state of Alabama.” Miller retired from Emanu-El at the just your friend” end of June. Ordained in 1982, Miller came to Birmingham from the Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles in January 1991. He also had served at Temple Shalom in Auckland, New Zealand. Rabbi Aaron Miller of Washington Hebrew Congregation, who arrived in Birmingham at a young age when his father took over the Emanu-El pulpit, spoke of his father’s legacy, both in Birmingham and in his own rabbinate. One bit of advice he recalled from his father when pursuing 30 Southern Jewish Life • September 2017
the rabbinate himself was to “drop the rabbi voice… and just connect as a person.” He referred to the rabbinate as a calling, saying “when you are a rabbi, God has you on speed dial.” Aaron Miller’s role in the evening was a closely-held secret. Haas said “it is not an easy task to keep secrets in the Jewish community.” She noted that eight years earlier, in her final year of rabbinical school as they were preparing their resumes and portfolios, classmate Aaron Miller asked if she had considered Birmingham. “I said, where?’ she admitted. Aaron Miller told her “You really should think about Birmingham… you and my dad would make the best team.” “And the rest, they say, is history,” she said. Reverend A.B. Sutton of Living Stones Temple referred to Miller as “an advocate for peace.” When Sutton broke away from his previous pulpit, Miller invited him and hundreds of the church’s members who went with him to use Emanu-El as their home until they were able to secure their own building. As part of the service, the Living Stones Temple Choir did a few very well-received selections. Rep. Jim Carns presented Miller with a resolution of the Alabama House of Representatives, commending him on “a distinguished record