About
American ultra-Orthodox rabbi, author, and lecturer remembered for instigating and invigorating extreme right-wing politics in American Orthodox Jewry.
Before Fame
After studying in Europe, he returned to the US before the start of World War II. He first served as the rabbi of Congregation Agudath Shalom in Chelsea, Massachusetts. In 1945, he assumed the pulpit of the Young Israel of Rugby in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. After school, he went to learn in an afternoon Talmud Torah. At 14, he went to New York City to attend Yeshivas Rabbenu Yitzchok Elchonon, at the time the only American high school offering high-level Jewish learning. He later graduated from Yeshiva College and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.
Trivia
While studying at Lithuania's Slabodka yeshiva at 24, he was so diligent in his studies that he wore out his shirtsleeves over the lectern he was using. He also wore a coat during the summer, in order to conceal the multitude of overlapping patches that were on his trousers.
Family Life
He was born Victor Miller in Baltimore, Maryland. Although he attended public school, only Yiddish was spoken at home.
Associated With
Another great leader of Orthodox Jewry was Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He and Miller were both Orthodox rabbis but often differed in their views and interpretations of the Talmud.
