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From
the Desk of Professor Linda Nurick

Former Board Member

Riverside Temple
Beth El

April, 2008

As a former board member of Temple Beth El, I am writing regarding the
Press Enterprise article of January 25^th, which was a biased, one-dimensional
view of a complex, difficult time for both Rabbi Miller and Temple Beth
El.  It saddens me that a single
newspaper article could have such a devastating effect on the promising career
of an exceptional young Rabbi.  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 and always have been one of the most active members 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.  I have seen absolutely no evidence of
the article’s implications—none. 
To the contrary, while Rabbi Miller is certainly highly passionate, his
fundamental kindheartedness is one of his greatest virtues.  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 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.  It
must be noted here that Rabbi Miller was given a 5-year contract when he was
hired, but soon after he came, the established “fiefdoms” in staff and
leadership were clearly threatened by his strong presence.  It must also be noted that within 6 months of
his hiring, the board recognized they could not afford the contract they had
signed.  It is inconceivable that these
issues were not strong motivation in the board’s decision to request Rabbi
Miller’s resignation in the wake of this incident.

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. 

I have often said that Rabbi Miller is like a thoroughbred horse.  He 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, and we
miss him terribly.  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.

Submitted with love and caring,

Linda Nurick