Shlomo Eliyahu Miller is a member of the

Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (, "Council of great Torah ages) is the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of the Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah movements in Israel; and of Agudath Israel of America in the United States. Members are usually pre ...

(Council of Torah Sages). He is a Rosh

Kollel A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...

(dean) and co-founder of the Kollel Avreichim Institute for Advanced

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

Study, a

haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to '' halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in opp ...

post-

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stu ...

educational institution in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

and head of its

Beis Din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, i ...

(Rabbinical court). He is the foremost

Litvish ''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged''/''mitnaged'') was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ''Misnag ...

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to '' halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in opp ...

Posek In Halakha, Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Judaism, Jewish religious laws derived from the Torah, written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law wher ...

(decisor of Rabbinic law) in Toronto. Miller is the head of the Beis Din of the Va'ad Harabonim of Lakewood (Association of Rabbis) of

Lakewood, NJ Lakewood Township is the most populous township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A rapidly growing community as of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 135,158 representing an increase of 41,415 (+ ...

and heads a Kollel there as well. He is a close friend of

Avraham Bromberg Rabbi Avraham Dov Halevi Bromberg, formerly the Rosh Yeshiva of Beth Hatalmud Rabbinical College, is currently Rosh Yeshiva of Sha'ar Hatalmud in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. In 2022, the Yeshiva relocated to Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He i ...

. Miller is a strong opponent of any weakening of the rule of

Halacha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comm ...

(Rabbinic law).

Personal life

Rabbinic history

Miller learned in the

Talmudical Academy of Baltimore The Talmudical Academy of Baltimore or TA (Hebrew: ישיבת חפץ חיים) is a K–12 yeshiva founded in 1917. Its present campus, located at 4445 Old Court Road, includes a pre-school building, an elementary school building, a middle school ...

and was a close talmid (student) of

Rav ''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states that: The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuan ...

Aaron Kotler Aharon Kotler (1892–1962) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania and the United States; the latter being where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. Early life Kotle ...

. He began deciding Halachic disputes after

Moshe Feinstein Moshe Feinstein ( he, משה פײַנשטיין; Lithuanian pronunciation: ''Moshe Faynshteyn''; en, Moses Feinstein; March 3, 1895 – March 23, 1986) was an American Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and ''posek'' (authority on ''halakha''—Je ...

began referring

halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...

disputes to him. He founded

Kollel Toronto A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions ...

along with

Yaakov Hirschman in 1970.

Works

Shoshanas Yisroel on Hilchos

Purim Purim (; , ; see Name below) is a Jewish holiday which commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, an official of the Achaemenid Empire who was planning to have all of Persia's Jewish subjects killed, as recounted in the Book ...

. Shabbos Shlomo on Hilchos

Shabbos Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

Some major rulings and statements

Shabbos mode ovens

Miller was a signatory to the ruling forbidding changing the temperature of

Shabbos Mode Sabbath mode, also known as Shabbos mode (Ashkenazi pronunciation) or Shabbat mode, is a feature in many modern home appliances, including ovens, dishwashers, and refrigerators, which is intended to allow the appliances to be used (subject to vari ...

ovens on

Yom Tov Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainst ...

Slifkin controversy

Miller wrote a letter voicing his support of the controversial ban of Natan Slifkin's books by a number of prominent rabbis. His defense of the rabbis and the ban was itself controversial, as evidenced by the responses it generated. Miller and Slifkin met in Toronto in December 2007. Slifkin reported that, despite their "strong disagreements", they had "a very pleasant conversation" in "a nice, polite atmosphere." Slifkin noted, however, that nothing was resolved.

''Techeiles'' debate

Miller investigated the claim that the sea snail ''

Murex trunculus ''Hexaplex trunculus'' (previously known as ''Murex trunculus'', ''Phyllonotus trunculus'', or the banded dye-murex) is a medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex shells or rock snails. It is included ...

'' was the source of the biblical ''

techeiles ''Tekhelet'' ( he, תְּכֵלֶת ''təḵēleṯ''; alternate spellings include ''tekheleth'', ''t'chelet'', ''techelet'' and ''techeiles'') is a "blue-violet", "blue", or "turquoise" dye highly prized by ancient Mediterranean civilizations. I ...

''. In a letter on the subject, he wrote that he believes that there are several Talmudic proofs that the ''Murex'' is not the creature from which ''techeiles'' is produced, and that the evidence in support of the claim is insufficient to overcome these points. Yisroel Barkin authored a comprehensive disputation of Millers' letter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Shlomo Miller, Sholomo Living people People from Toronto Canadian Haredi rabbis Year of birth missing (living people) Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah