From the Desk of Professor Linda Nurick
Riverside, California
As a former board member of Temple Beth El, I am writing regarding the Press Enterprise article of January 25th, which was a biased, one-dimensional view of a complex, difficult time for both Rabbi Miller and Temple Beth El. This letter is an attempt to restore the balance so that those who may consider hiring Rabbi Miller in the future can make a fully-informed decision.
Temple Beth El has been through many rabbis over the last twelve or so years, and this constant change has left its mark on us. A number of these previous Rabbis truly have engaged in seriously problematic behavior, which means the biggest mark that has been left is a congregation that has a very difficult time trusting Rabbis and a difficult time trusting that Rabbis will be around for any extended period of time. Rabbi Miller is not a perfect man, but the Press Enterprise article made it sound as if Rabbi is a dangerous, unpredictable man.
I am an active member of the Temple. I have worked directly with Rabbi Miller as the social action chair, the youth programs chair, as a member of the Religious School faculty, and as he helped prepare my son for Bar Mitzvah. . While Rabbi Miller is certainly extremely passionate, he is neither dangerous nor unpredictable. Violence sells papers as—in the wake of the Catholic Church scandals of late—so does clergy-bashing.
Let’s look at the Press Enterprise article from a journalistic point of view: The Temple president acknowledges that there were many, many members who were trying to keep Miller on, but the reporter made no mention of contacting them (and to my knowledge, he didn’t try to contact anyone who opposed the board’s decision). He did not attend the Temple’s annual congregational meeting, at which the Temple president stated ahead-of-time the issue was to be discussed, and at which the vast majority of speakers questioned the board’s decision. Nor did the reporter try to find out what people opposing the board’s decision may have been thinking. In the Press Enterprise itself, there had been several articles throughout Rabbi Miller’s 2-year tenure about Rabbi Miller’s powerful presence in the Riverside community: in the interfaith council, on the Mayor’s cultural committee, as a Jewish commentator on events in Riverside; yet the reporter made no effort to speak to any of the people with whom Rabbi Miller had had contact outside of the Temple. The journalism needed some work.
There were many people who opposed the board’s decision to accept Rabbi Miller’s resignation. Many of the board members admitted that had there been a vote at the congregational meeting, or had they been willing to take a congregational poll, a substantial majority of people may have wanted Rabbi Miller to stay. A formal request that such a poll be taken was officially submitted to the board of directors, who refused to do so.
There were certainly people with whom Rabbi had problems and it is also true that Rabbi Miller has some interpersonal skills that could use work and that he is working on. I don’t believe Rabbi Miller has substantially more or fewer challenges than any other Rabbis. What is not acknowledged is the substantial problems others at the Temple have with their own lack of interpersonal skills and also the clear challenges that Temple Beth El and its board have with working with, respecting, and keeping Rabbis. In this particular case, a lot of the challenges stem from Rabbi Miller being a man with a strong personality, a clear vision of the future, strong convictions, and an inexhaustible amount of energy. As with all personality traits, there is the good and bad of these.
Rabbi Miller is a powerful force in any situation—and that force can be a great boon to any organization provided it is respected and harnessed. There are many people at Temple Beth El who are convinced that with time and commitment, Rabbi Miller’s personality and skills would have been great assets for the Jewish community in Riverside and Riverside as a whole. It saddens me and many others that he wasn’t given the opportunity.
When Rabbi Miller was hired (I was on the board at that time), he was given a mandate to make significant changes at Temple Beth El. We thought that was what we wanted, but once Rabbi started to make those changes, some began to question the changes, others were threatened by the changes themselves, and a number of board and staff members were clearly threatened by Rabbi Miller’s presence and success. There is no question that Rabbi could have led the congregation down the road of change more gently and with more understanding of the difficulty of change for people who have built what exists, but he didn’t, and our Temple has had such difficulties with rabbis that when we see problems, we are too quick to judge.
There is no way to tell for sure whether Rabbi Miller would have worked out long-term as Temple Beth El’s rabbi, but he wasn’t given the chance. This is a person who has the energy, charisma, passion, and dedication to make a real difference in this world. Those of us who know and love him pray that another organization will find a way to utilize his immense talents to the fullest.
Sincerely,
Linda Nurick
