Rabbi Aaron Miller comes from a line of rabbinical figures, with his grandfather and father both serving as congregational rabbis — a path that he discovered a passion for while in high school in Alabama.
Miller said that he is unique among his rabbinical school class, having been the only one to stay at one organization since graduation. He attributes that, in part, to the great opportunities for advancement as a rabbi at Washington Hebrew Congregation.
After more than a decade with the synagogue, Miller has a great outlook on his future and feels lucky to continue serving the WHC members.
Where did you find your desire to become a rabbi?
I was raised in Birmingham, Alabama. My dad is a congregational rabbi. My grandfather, bless his memory, was a congregational rabbi. So, I have it in the family. It was actually the last thing I wanted to do — until my junior year of high school. And then I really started exploring religion, fell in love with religious life, and I knew by the time I had to decide on a college that the rabbinate would be a terrific path ahead.
I went to Brandeis University, where I majored in Jewish studies. I joke that I kind of triple majored in Jewish studies because I took every Jewish studies class in school offered. I just dove [in] headfirst, and then I went straight to rabbinical school afterwards.
In between, my wife and I got married a week after college graduation, [and I] went straight to rabbinical school. [I spent] five years in rabbinical school, one in Jerusalem and then Cincinnati for the remaining four, and then I got lucky enough to come to Washington Hebrew, and I’ve been here for the past 13 years.
How has your career evolved over your years at WHC?
When I came to Washington Hebrew, I was doing our high school retreat program. I was doing the 20s and 30s program. And then, as I’ve been here now for 13 years, there is just tremendous opportunity for clergy to grow in place. And so now I’m doing work with our adult education. I’m doing work with our development and philanthropy. And to feel like a real part of the community is one of the great gifts of being around here.
You mentioned opportunities for growth at WHC. Can you expand on how it’s unique?
I’m now looking at a picture of my rabbinical school classmates. Every single one of them has been with at least two or three congregations over the past 13 years. And to be at a place like Washington Hebrew, which has 2,000 families, there’s a large clergy team, there are 1,000 things going on any given day.
There is just a tremendous opportunity to explore new skills, new kinds of programming, new communities and community endeavors that you want to try. It’s been a place where personally I feel like I’ve been able to grow tremendously as a rabbi … Washington Hebrew is a place that has had enough new rabbis to be a little bit forgiving, to have that kindness and the rachmones I guess, to let new rabbis grow and learn from their mistakes, and to settle into yourself and grow from a place of strength.
What are some takeaways you’ve gained from spending 13 years with one congregation?
My grandfather, bless his memory, always used to say leading services, giving sermons, teaching, preaching and hospital visits — all those things he would do for free. It’s the other stuff that they pay him for. … To be a rabbi, where you are by people’s side for the most meaningful moments of their lives, good and bad, is a tremendous gift. And I’m still grateful for it 13 years down the road.
Just today already, I followed up with someone who was diagnosed with cancer. Just last week, I had the joy of meeting with a wedding couple who’s planning their wedding in a couple of months from now. And I followed up with a family from a funeral I did just at the end of last week. And that’s all before noon on a Monday.
The rabbinate, because you connect with people in the most meaningful moments of their lives, not only is it a meaningful career, but it’s a career where you help create meaning for people … I found my life to have so many additional layers of meaning because of people I’ve met over the years.
What advice would you have for up-and-coming rabbis as they begin their careers?
Push yourself hard in the first couple of years. And to not just to make sure that you are there at all the committee meetings and responding to emails. I think all that is important, especially in those first few years, but push yourself in those first few years to try things that you want to be good at a decade down the road. Even though we’ve been in rabbinical school for half a decade, nobody expects a very young rabbi to be perfect every step of the way.
When you finish rabbinical school is a time to challenge yourself to grow — to make the mistakes that the growth process entails and to really push your skill sets. It’s not a time to play it safe. It’s a time to move and to do very scary things, to make mistakes along the way.
What experiences do you hope to continue to share with the community at WHC?
I’m passionate about sermons and communicating to people from all different kinds of Jewish backgrounds. I feel like coming to a prayer service can be comforting and familiar to a lot of people and also foreign and a little bit scary to a lot more. And so, there’s this moment when rabbis can connect ancient wisdom to people’s lives that’s accessible to everybody. And that’s something that I’m personally passionate about and want to continue working on in the years and decades to come … I think Washington Hebrew is doing so well creating the kind of community where clergy are important but not always at the center.
The greatest moments of joy for me as a rabbi are standing in the corner of a packed room of people coming together, meeting each other reconnecting with each other week after week and celebrating each other’s joys. To be able to watch people connect with each other and to create the spaces where people can find their people is, to me, especially at this stage, what the rabbinate is all about.