Looking for a good deal on Artscroll’s Stone Chumash (BN.com has it cheaper btw), I noticed their new book, “Walking With Rabbi Miller.”
I was somewhat disappointed that it’s about Rabbi Avigdor Miller and not Rabbi Israel Miller or his unheralded son Rabbi David Miller who barely has any mention of him on the web. Nothing against R. Avigdor Miller at all, but I think that serious Modern Orthodox Jews would benefit greatly from a book about R. Israel Miller and his family.
I only recall meeting R. Israel Miller once. When I was in Gruss a few years ago, we had a Hanukkah haggigah at his son’s apartment which was next door to his. He passed away a few months later. Those who know the Miller family know how unique they all are. For those that don’t, I can’t do them justice here.
I don’t know if the family is working on a book. If they’re not, someone should. Without any embellishments, it would be inspirational and a refreshing change from the typical mythic “gadol du jour” books and a must read for every Modern Orthodox Jew.
Any volunteers?
(כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם וְלֹא דַרְכֵיכֶם דְּרָכָי (ישעיהו נה:ח
Walking With Rabbi Miller
November 13, 2003 Jewish Culture
Tolany seems like an obvious choice.
Tolany still owes Revel papers – as do most Jewish academics.
And shock of shocks, the Israel Miller papers are actually in the process of being processed at the YU archives.
Library Chick – That’s great news! What are these papers? Is it his letters, a biography, both?
His children put together a fantastic multimedia presentation for his sloshim including his interview on 60 minutes and home video from Yom Ha’atzmaut 1949. Of course, this can’t exactly make it into a book, but references would be nice.
As the Miller family representative here at YU (I guess R’ Dovid is the Israel representative), I can tell you that there’s been much talk in the family about writing such a book. We were heavily involved in getting all of the papers to the YU archives, and there were thousands of files as well. As for now, the family rests their hopes on me, and a preliminary work should be coming out by the end of the semester in the form of a Brill paper for his 20th century class. One of the most tragic aspects of my grandfather’s death was that while he accomplished a tremendous amount in his lifetime, he rarely published or wished to be recognized (bivhinat ’emor mi’at va’ase harbeh). Anyone who wishes to get involved should feel free to contact me. Thanks Josh for the post.
My grandparents were in his shul in Kingsbridge (which is how I know some of the stories). I doubt they have anything by way of tangible archival material (or at least nothing you could get from anyone else), but they might enjoy talking to you to give some stories or other useful information.