Visions of a silver anniversary

Young Chang

Rabbi Mark Miller compares his relationship to Temple Bat Yahm to a

marriage.

From the beginning, you could say it was meant to be.

He traveled from Long Island, N.Y., to two congregations in central

California 25 years ago to interview for vacant rabbi positions. While

job searching, he learned of an opening at Temple Bat Yahm in Newport

Beach.

The head of the Pacific/Southwest rabbinate -- a rabbi whom he had

never met -- helped him skip all the procedures necessary to meet a

congregation. An interview was hastily arranged to meet during Miller’s

stay in Fresno.

“And that was it,” said Miller, who will celebrate his silver

anniversary with the temple May 18. “I met with the people, and we fell

in love with each other, and the rest is history.”

The temple will honor the 54-year-old rabbi during its annual gala at

the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach next week. The celebration

precedes Miller’s exact anniversary date, as he started serving the

temple in August 1977. But the occasion is closer to the silver

anniversary of Miller’s marriage to wife Wendy. Their marriage happened

in July 1977.

Referring to the gracious rabbi who made it possible for a

then-29-year-old Miller to skip the pre-interview logistics at Temple Bat

Yahm, Miller said there are no accidents.

“To this day, I don’t know why he did that for a complete stranger,

but to me, he was an instrument of God’s will,” the rabbi said.

The love story began, once Miller joined the temple as rabbi, with a

vision.

“I had a vision of what this congregation could be,” he said. “Even

though it was very small and struggling, I had a vision of its potential

and the possibilities, and I came here with a very optimistic point of

view.”

The synagogue held 130 families when Miller arrived. Today, 700

families worship in a large temple on Camelback Drive, which the

congregation moved into in 1982.

In the mid-1990s, the temple bought more property adjacent to its

synagogue. New buildings have been constructed in the past 18 months.

Features include a religious school, a library, new offices, a gift shop,

a second chapel, a social hall and an amphitheater. The large project is

nearly completed.

“I had a vision of increasing the expansion of the land, of the

buildings on the land, so that we could have greater responsiveness to

our membership and to the community,” Miller said. “My continued vision

is that we can still be more than we are.”

Charles Karp, president of the Jewish Federation of Orange County, as

well as a member of Temple Bat Yahm, said his rabbi is to be credited for

the synagogue’s growth.

“And he’s been the inspiration for the addition that they’re just

completing,” Karp said. “I don’t know what would have happened without

his guidance.”

Miller said his purpose isn’t just to serve his existing synagogue

members, but those to come.

“I’m building for those yet unborn,” he said. “Who may or may not know

I even existed. As the world was planting for me when I answer it, so I

am planting for those who will come.”

He cares about growing the synagogue because his mission is to touch

lives.

“And to be a window to the Jewish tradition through which people can

see the richness and value of the heritage of the house of Israel,”

Miller said.

Over 2 1/2 decades, what has grown between Miller and his temple are

affection, respect and trust.

“We know what to expect of each other,” he said. “It’s like an

extended family.”

Extended, it is.

Miller said one of the best perks of staying with a temple for so long

is being able to officiate at life cycle functions for so many families.

He marries people he names, buries grandparents, names the babies of

newlyweds and visits hospitals whenever anyone’s sick.

“And not only at peak moments or deep moments, but also just as human

beings,” Miller said. “Relating to one another.”

The rabbi added that his main secret of success is his wife -- she’s

why he’s a “mensch” and why he’s enjoyed two successful marriages.

“It means a very good human being,” he said. “Without my wife, I

wouldn’t be a mensch. Whatever I’ve accomplished is largely due to her.

She’s kept me on the straight and narrow.”

FYI

* WHAT: Temple Bat Yahm’s 2002 gala celebrating Rabbi Mark Miller’s

silver anniversary with the temple

* WHEN: 6:30 p.m. May 18

* WHERE: Four Seasons Hotel, 690 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach

* COST: $180

* CALL: (949) 644-1999