ALAN MILLER

MILLER--Rabbi Alan W., Ph.D., passed away peacefully on August 12, 2016, surrounded by his loving family, including Naomi, his wife of 59 years. He is survived by his children, Jonathan, Esty, Susanna, Ron, David, Adam, Diana, and five grandchildren. Born in Hull, England, son of Rabbi Louis Miller and Bessie (Champagne), he was educated at Balliol College, University of Oxford, and Jews College. He also served as Chaplain in Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the U.K. and Egypt. He was a Rabbi on both sides of the Atlantic - as founder of the South West Essex Reform Synagogue in Ilford; Assistant Rabbi and Youth Director at the West London Synagogue; and Rabbi and Teacher at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ) in New York City, founded by Mordechai Kaplan. As a scholar and educator, he lectured on Jewish and secular texts at numerous venues, including the New School for Social Research, where he taught for nearly 20 years and was a Director of the New York Salon. He is the author of God of Daniel S.: In Search of the American Jew (1969). While Rabbi of the SAJ, Dr. Miller trained at the New York Freudian Society and Training Institute, and practiced as a psychoanalyst on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He was also a Clinical Associate Professor of Theology in Psychiatry at Cornell Medical Center. At the SAJ, he pioneered the concept and practice of the "open microphone." His ideas and spirit live on in more than 600 digitized recorded sermons, from 1968 to 1992, which are housed at several institutions, including the American Jewish Historical Society. Funeral will be held at Plaza Memorial Chapel at 10:30am on Monday. Shiva will be Monday through Wednesday from 5 to 9pm at 40 West 86 Street #12B.