‘Adventurous’ rabbi seeking new challenges after retirement at Temple Emanu-El

Jonathan Miller — who announced in January he’d retire as senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in June after a quarter century leading what he calls the city’s “flagship Jewish institution” — admits he had doubts about moving to Birmingham in 1991.

Miller had never been to Alabama, or even the South — except for some weekend visits to North Carolina to offer sermons while a student.

“Birmingham’s reputation — part of it deserved, part of it undeserved — was well-known,” Miller said, referring to the Magic City’s battered national image after the civil rights era.

He also had concerns about being a Jew in “an actively Christian environment,” he said.

But Miller said he’s “always been an adventurous person,” and his Birmingham adventure worked out well.

Miller has served as rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, founded in 1882, for longer than all but two men — Morris Newfield, from 1895-1940, and Milton Grafman, from 1941-75.

The temple has flourished under Miller, expanding and renovating its facilities and maintaining a vibrant congregation.

And Miller — who will become rabbi emeritus — has made a home in the Deep South and become an integral part of Jewish life in Birmingham.

“I’ve had the sad privilege of burying a generation and a half or two generations of Jews in this community,” Miller said. “I came here knowing nothing. Now I seem to be the bearer of history of so many people and so many families.”

A rabbi’s son, Miller was born in New York but spent his formative years in Boston, where he graduated from Brandeis University. He was ordained at Hebrew Union College in New York in 1982.

Miller had another big adjustment to make when he came to Temple Emanu-El, one that had nothing to do with the South. He had worked for nine years at Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles, which he calls “a mega-congregation.”  

“There were more Jews in that synagogue than in the whole state of Alabama,” Miller said, who had also served a congregation in New Zealand.

By contrast, Temple Emanu-El was “a little quieter, a little sleepier,” he said. 

But Miller liked the smaller scale.

“It’s a place where people can — if they try — make real human connections,” he said. “That’s something that I have enjoyed and that has sustained me during my time of service here. And it is also large enough and dynamic enough that we can do some good things.”

Those good things — carried out with support from an “engaged, active and enthusiastic” congregation — included raising about $17 million to renovate and expand the temple’s facilities on Highland Avenue in 2002, Miller said.

The temple, in good financial shape, has expanded its staff and composed its own prayer book, according to Miller.

“We’ve also developed a sense of presence and meaning in the community-at-large for Jews and Judaism,” he said. “We have enhanced pro-Israel support, which is important to me. We have stood for justice issues and helping people who are not as privileged as we are.”

The temple has “maintained a steady and enthusiastic membership,” something many mainline religious institutions — Christian, Jewish or otherwise — have struggled to do, Miller said.

In 2016, Miller published a book, “Legacy: A Rabbi and A Community Remember Their Loved Ones,” a collection of the eulogies he has delivered at funerals here.

Writing the book was a way for Miller to honor the strong bond he felt with his congregation. It was also a way for him cope with his mother’s death in December 2015. His father was already deceased.

“It was my way of working through my grief and my loss,” he said. “Also, I was anticipating the end of my career.”

The rabbi’s heightened sense of mortality helped lead him to make a change.

“I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and if I want to have new challenges in life, I need to do that now,” he said.

His future will almost certainly involve writing. “I enjoy it, so I think that will be my focus,” Miller said, who has four book projects in mind.

He’s written numerous op-eds for AL.com, including a piece March 1 in which he responded to the bomb threats at the Levite Jewish Community Center, as well as other recent hate crimes and racial incidents in America.

“These threats of violence are threats to the fabric and ideals of our country,” Miller wrote.

Retirement, at least at first, will also be a time for Miller to relax and recharge.

He’ll spend more time with his three grown children in Washington, D.C. He also has a granddaughter there, with a second grandchild on the way.

His wife, Judith, “is a very effective, successful psychotherapist” who would like to remain with her practice, he said.

“Maybe I will be a house husband for a while,” Miller said with a laugh.

And Miller’s desire for challenges is still strong. “I’m not entirely sure what the future will be, but I know it will be an adventure I would not be able to have while I have these responsibilities,” he said.