Rabbi Avis Miller

The first woman in the United States to assume pulpit responsibilities in a major Conservative congregation, Rabbi Miller has served as President of the Washington-Baltimore Region of the Rabbinical Assembly. As chair of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Outreach and Conversion (1992-5, 2004-6), Rabbi Miller was also the first woman to be appointed to head a national committee of the RA, as well as one of the first women to serve on the Rabbinical Assembly’s Executive Council.

As a representative of the Rabbinical Assembly and the American Association for Ethiopian Jews, Rabbi Miller was sent to Ethiopia in 1989 to meet with the Ethiopian Jewish Community and Ethiopian leaders to press for the immigration of Ethiopian Jewry. Rabbi Miller designed and led the first Jewish healing service in the Washington area, as well as the area’s first Learners’ Minyan, and the first local Jewish workshops for engaged and expectant couples. Other programming initiatives at the congregation include Hebrew and Jewish Literacy Courses, programs for singles, couples, and young families, Adult Bat Mitzvah, and Bikkur Holim committee, and outreach to young adults with mixed Jewish/non-Jewish ancestry. Under the auspices of the National Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, she has trained laymen around the country to practice effective keruv.

Location

5502 Western Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815