It’s the tumultuous years of the 1970s, and Rabbi Meir Kahane and the Jewish Defense League have begun harassing Soviet officials and their families in a campaign to raise the issue of freedom for Soviet Jews to the forefront of the political agenda.
As a result of the JDL’s actions, the issue of freedom for Soviet Jews is on the nightly news and the front pages of daily newspapers. Young Jews, followers of Rabbi Kahane, are arrested and face criminal prosecution.
Arthur Miller, a young attorney specializing in tax law, is recruited to assist lawyer Robert Persky in defending these young provocateurs.
Starting with arraignments, Miller’s case load steadily increases. Soon, he is involved in more complicated criminal matters, including the infamous Sol Hurok case, in which a young Jewish girl lost her life.
In a strange twist of fate, Miller becomes involved in a legal controversy surrounding the bombing at Fraunces Tavern by a group of Puerto Rican nationalists who sought independence for their island homeland.
Representing a client who claims to have knowledge that can help catch the bombers, Miller attempts to negotiate an exchange of this information for the release of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who is serving a year in a halfway house for a parole violation.
Expecting his offer to be accepted quickly, Miller is surprised to find himself, instead, facing arrest as a target of the FBI. Believing himself to be a victim of official government antisemitism, he risks his career and his freedom as he resists official efforts to limit his rights as well as the rights of his clients.
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Arthur Miller grew up in New York’s Lower East Side, where he attended the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School from first grade through high school. He graduated from City College of New York and Brooklyn Law School, and he has a Master’s in Law from New York University.While living in New York City, Arthur became an inactive member of the newly formed Jewish Defense League. As the JDL expanded its activities and became involved in the Soviet Jewry movement, there was a desperate need for lawyers to represent the numerous young JDL members who participated in the group’s militant activities. Miller was recruited by Attorney Robert Persky to assist with these cases. At first, Miller refused, as his practice was limited to tax law, but, ultimately, Miller was unable to refuse Persky’s desperate plea.
For the next few years, Miller donated hundreds of hours of representation to increasingly complex cases, doing battle with the FBI and other federal agencies who were relentless in their attempts to close down the JDL. Finally, in 1975, Miller himself became a target of the FBI in what, to this day, Miller believes was the result of government-sanctioned antisemitism.
After keeping his story a secret for nearly fifty years, the treatment of Jonathan Pollard forced Miller to go public.
Arthur lives in Bet Shemesh, Israel with his wife of more than 53 years, Ronnie. The Millers have four children, three of whom live in the United States and a daughter who lives in Bet Shemesh. The Millers’ journey to Israel is the subject of Arthur’s first book, Because It’s Israel: An Aliyah Odyssey.
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