SILVER HAS A PASSION FOR PEOPLE By SCOTT GOLD

Staff Writer South Florida Sun-Sentinel • Oct 04, 1996  

BOCA RATON - — Barry Silver is talking on the phone with the governor in his parents' living room. Sam Silver, is, well, just talking - loudly, much to his son's chagrin.

"He's going to the Legislature," grumbles the 84-year-old rabbi. "And all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

To some, three days after voters elected him to the state House in District 89, the words still don't come easily: "State Representative Barry Silver."  A lawyer noted for his theatrics, he once represented a dog named Lucky, who survived after being shot five times by a police officer. He once persuaded a woman to race through the County Commission chambers in a thong bikini.

The 39-year-old's campaign was no less entertaining, replete with trampoline demonstrations and endless afternoons of singing, off-key, on the stoop of his campaign office. Lillie Wichinsky, whose husband Glenn lost to Silver in Tuesday's runoff, says her husband's campaign was different in one important way: It was "dignified."

Amusing the public is a Silver family tradition, founded by Sam Silver, rabbi emeritus at Temple Sinai in Delray Beach, community activist, unabashed punster. And if Barry Silver doesn't take himself too seriously, it would seem tolerable, even admirable. But if he doesn't take his new office seriously, that might cross the line with his critics.

A glance inside reveals a Barry Silver that few know and fewer understand: A passionate intellect who finds meaning in all of his cases, even Lucky the dog, Silver will work on two hours' sleep. He is a history buff who understands more about the Torah than some rabbis. He is a multilingual scholar who dreamed of politics over his mother's objections.

His opponents, even some of his supporters, say that Barry Silver would have never won elected office - certainly not by a 16-percent margin - had it not been for his family name.

"It was the most significant of the obstacles in the campaign," Glenn Wichinsky said on Wednesday.

But civic duty, it turns out, is another family tradition, as is a profound devotion to community, to idealism, liberalism and Judaism.

Some of his family members - including two social workers and a stand-up comedian - say they would love to run for office, too. But they can't because their own sermons about values and morals bring them to tears, which wouldn't go over well in public.

"That's just who we are," Josh Stewart-Silver, one of Barry's four brothers, said on Wednesday. "We're different than many people. Barry may do things in unusual ways. But he's just always been someone who is passionate. He was passionate about our dog. He's always been like that."

Born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., Silver grew up in Stamford, Conn. He attended the University of Connecticut before graduating with a degree in political science from Florida Atlantic University. After vacillating between rabbinical school and law school, he eventually chose the latter, and graduated with a law degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.

Those are the roots that made him one of Palm Beach County's most prominent civil lawyers. The roots that made the person, not the professional, grow deeper.

The way Silver family legend tells it, at one point Barry stuck up for animal rights by refusing to wear leather belts and shoes, and eschewed cars for a bike to reduce pollution.

He was 15 at the time, an adolescent activist.

"I said, 'Barry, how can you be a vegetarian? You don't even like vegetables,'" his mother Elaine said this week. "But he didn't want to kill animals. He was always that kind of a person. Many people do things because they are going to run for office. Never Barry. This is the way he's always been."

For one of his campaign events, he asked families to pick up trash on the beach. He has represented abortion-rights advocates and environmental activists, sometimes for free. He has performed Passover seders on cruise ships for 10 years. He performs interfaith marriages. He speaks at Haitian churches.

"All the stuff that I preach about propriety and morality, he practices," his father says.

But those preachings are behind it all. In his father lies not only the foundation of a hokey sense of humor, but of Barry Silver himself. Both, for example, have been admonished by their family for being too idealistic, for levying praise on people who have had nothing but cruel words for them.

"I think the rabbi has had tremendous influence on him, morally and ethically," Elaine Silver said. "Even people that have been mean to him, he compliments them. It drives me nuts. Barry grew up in that kind of a home. He's really, in many ways, almost a clone of his father."

Barry Silver was Wendy Schultz's "dream boyfriend" 13 years ago. This summer, Barry, alongside his father, performed her wedding ceremony. Barry and Wendy remain best friends - Barry has remained close with all of his former girlfriends - and tennis partners.

"His father is the most selfless individual I have ever met and will ever meet," said Schultz, now a Coral Springs insurance agent. "He has absolutely zero needs. Barry learned that goodness. His passion has always been for making our little world a better place. He's definitely one of the very few who are in politics for the right reason."

Today, and for the next two years, how Barry Silver got into politics - and how he won - is a moot point.

"There may be some that can't believe it, but all they have to do is look at the polls," said state Rep. Suzanne Jacobs, D-Delray Beach. "He's in. ... I don't care if God herself got somebody elected. Once you get to Tallahassee, only one person sits in that chair and presses the buttons."

Outside his parents' house, posing for pictures, the folly continues.

New visitors are fresh meat for Sam Silver, who is reciting his full supply of jokes and is paying no attention to the camera.

Elaine Silver is getting into the act. Know what a dairy shop in Israel is called? Cheeses of Nazareth.

Barry is squeezed between them, smiling a bit uncomfortably at the public life he has worked so hard to create. On Saturday, he says, he's finally going back to his regular tennis matches with Wendy.

By the way, he says, did you know that tennis was mentioned in the Bible? Right there in Genesis, it says plain as day that Joseph served in Pharoah's court.

 

Fox 5 New York 

Rabbi challenges abortion ban on religious grounds July 18, 2022

BOCA RATON - — Barry Silver is talking on the phone with the governor in his parents' living room. Sam Silver, is, well, just talking - loudly, much to his son's chagrin.

"He's going to the Legislature," grumbles the 84-year-old rabbi. "And all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

To some, three days after voters elected him to the state House in District 89, the words still don't come easily: "State Representative Barry Silver."  A lawyer noted for his theatrics, he once represented a dog named Lucky, who survived after being shot five times by a police officer. He once persuaded a woman to race through the County Commission chambers in a thong bikini.

The 39-year-old's campaign was no less entertaining, replete with trampoline demonstrations and endless afternoons of singing, off-key, on the stoop of his campaign office. Lillie Wichinsky, whose husband Glenn lost to Silver in Tuesday's runoff, says her husband's campaign was different in one important way: It was "dignified."

Amusing the public is a Silver family tradition, founded by Sam Silver, rabbi emeritus at Temple Sinai in Delray Beach, community activist, unabashed punster. And if Barry Silver doesn't take himself too seriously, it would seem tolerable, even admirable. But if he doesn't take his new office seriously, that might cross the line with his critics.

A glance inside reveals a Barry Silver that few know and fewer understand: A passionate intellect who finds meaning in all of his cases, even Lucky the dog, Silver will work on two hours' sleep. He is a history buff who understands more about the Torah than some rabbis. He is a multilingual scholar who dreamed of politics over his mother's objections.

His opponents, even some of his supporters, say that Barry Silver would have never won elected office - certainly not by a 16-percent margin - had it not been for his family name.

"It was the most significant of the obstacles in the campaign," Glenn Wichinsky said on Wednesday.

But civic duty, it turns out, is another family tradition, as is a profound devotion to community, to idealism, liberalism and Judaism.

Some of his family members - including two social workers and a stand-up comedian - say they would love to run for office, too. But they can't because their own sermons about values and morals bring them to tears, which wouldn't go over well in public.

"That's just who we are," Josh Stewart-Silver, one of Barry's four brothers, said on Wednesday. "We're different than many people. Barry may do things in unusual ways. But he's just always been someone who is passionate. He was passionate about our dog. He's always been like that."

Born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., Silver grew up in Stamford, Conn. He attended the University of Connecticut before graduating with a degree in political science from Florida Atlantic University. After vacillating between rabbinical school and law school, he eventually chose the latter, and graduated with a law degree from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.

Those are the roots that made him one of Palm Beach County's most prominent civil lawyers. The roots that made the person, not the professional, grow deeper.

The way Silver family legend tells it, at one point Barry stuck up for animal rights by refusing to wear leather belts and shoes, and eschewed cars for a bike to reduce pollution.

He was 15 at the time, an adolescent activist.

"I said, 'Barry, how can you be a vegetarian? You don't even like vegetables,'" his mother Elaine said this week. "But he didn't want to kill animals. He was always that kind of a person. Many people do things because they are going to run for office. Never Barry. This is the way he's always been."

For one of his campaign events, he asked families to pick up trash on the beach. He has represented abortion-rights advocates and environmental activists, sometimes for free. He has performed Passover seders on cruise ships for 10 years. He performs interfaith marriages. He speaks at Haitian churches.

"All the stuff that I preach about propriety and morality, he practices," his father says.

But those preachings are behind it all. In his father lies not only the foundation of a hokey sense of humor, but of Barry Silver himself. Both, for example, have been admonished by their family for being too idealistic, for levying praise on people who have had nothing but cruel words for them.

"I think the rabbi has had tremendous influence on him, morally and ethically," Elaine Silver said. "Even people that have been mean to him, he compliments them. It drives me nuts. Barry grew up in that kind of a home. He's really, in many ways, almost a clone of his father."

Barry Silver was Wendy Schultz's "dream boyfriend" 13 years ago. This summer, Barry, alongside his father, performed her wedding ceremony. Barry and Wendy remain best friends - Barry has remained close with all of his former girlfriends - and tennis partners.

"His father is the most selfless individual I have ever met and will ever meet," said Schultz, now a Coral Springs insurance agent. "He has absolutely zero needs. Barry learned that goodness. His passion has always been for making our little world a better place. He's definitely one of the very few who are in politics for the right reason."

Today, and for the next two years, how Barry Silver got into politics - and how he won - is a moot point.

"There may be some that can't believe it, but all they have to do is look at the polls," said state Rep. Suzanne Jacobs, D-Delray Beach. "He's in. ... I don't care if God herself got somebody elected. Once you get to Tallahassee, only one person sits in that chair and presses the buttons."

Outside his parents' house, posing for pictures, the folly continues.

New visitors are fresh meat for Sam Silver, who is reciting his full supply of jokes and is paying no attention to the camera.

Elaine Silver is getting into the act. Know what a dairy shop in Israel is called? Cheeses of Nazareth.

Barry is squeezed between them, smiling a bit uncomfortably at the public life he has worked so hard to create. On Saturday, he says, he's finally going back to his regular tennis matches with Wendy.

By the way, he says, did you know that tennis was mentioned in the Bible? Right there in Genesis, it says plain as day that Joseph served in Pharoah's court.

 

 

 

RAbbi Silver on NPR's National Program "The 1a" July 14

July 14, 2022

Rabbi Waskow Joins the Fight!

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, founder and leader of The Shalom Center, has joined the battle for women’s autonomy, religious freedom and abortion rights.


For decades Rabbi Arthur Waskow has spoken with moral clarity and prophetic zeal on behalf of the poor and oppressed.  In the aftermath of the overthrow of Roe v. Wade, Rabbi Waskow applieS his eloquence and leadership to take on self-righteous whited sepulchers who seek to impose their misogynistic right-wing Christian views upon Jews, women and everyone else.
 
With Rabbi Waskow’s clarion voice for human rights, the legal case to protect abortion rights is elevated to a  whole new level.
We hope to see a groundswell of support from other Jewish organizations, as well as from people of all faiths and creeds who look to Rabbi Waskow and The Shalom Center as a source of inspiration and hope.  We will move forward with renewed vigor in our fight to restore religious freedom, women’s autonomy and the integrity of the family in America by challenging HB 5 in Florida and similar laws throughout the country.  
HEART (Help Enforce Abortion Rights Today) stands ready to assist people in every state and of every faith, including atheists and free thinkers to oppose ant-abortion laws and restore the separation of church and state in America.  

NBC: More Religious leaders joining Rabbi Barry's fight for Religious Liberty

RAbbi Barry on PBS's "Florida This Week" Click on picture to watch

RAbbi Barry in Time Magazine click on picture to read

NBC News discusses abortion case against DeSantis July 1, 2022 Click on picture to see 

 Rabbi Barry in New Times Newspaper (click to see)

Rabbi Barry on Newsy (click on picture to see full video)

Rabbi Barry holds a Rally in West Palm Beach

RAbbi Barry on UpWorthy (click on picture to see full video)

Rabbi Barry on CTV (click on picture to see full video)

MSNBC June 26, 2022 (click on picture to see full video)

RABBI BARRY ON MSNBC (CLICK ON PICTURE TO SEE FULL VIDEO)

RAbbi Barry is on australian Radio (click picture to hear)

Interfaith Justice League Responds to Charlottsville

 
On August 13, 2017, Rabbi Barry Silver represented the Interfaith Justice League at a rally held the day after the violence in Charlottesville to urge all people to challenge hate with love, and to combat hate groups with Interfaith action.   Rabbi Silver was accompanied by his good friend, Imam Zaher Badaraany, who he personally invited in order to ensure that the Muslim community was represented at this gathering to send a message to our President that loves "trumps" hate and that we reject his efforts to marginalize our Muslim brothers and sisters.   Rabbi Silver can be seen in these pictures wearing a T-shirt that says peace in Arabic, Hebrew and English and wearing a ritual prayer shawl with fringes, that he explains signifies that Jews have always been ready to stand at the fringe of any society whose leaders seek to oppress the people and act unjustly.
 
Rabbi Silver used his legal background as a civil rights attorney, to challenge and successfully overcome the police announced prohibition against any loudspeaker device or megaphone, advising them that any effort to enforce such a ban was unconstititional and would face a legal challenge from Rabbi Silver in court. The police relented and allowed the speakers to be heard by those who gathered in solidarity and peace.  
 
Rabbi Silver acknowledged that President Trump should be given credit for fulfilling just one of his campaign promises, i.e. to unite America, noting that President Trump has united, Muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists and all other religions, latinos, women, transgender and the whole gamut of LGBT individuals, Democrats and thinking Republicans, environmentalists, health care advocates, working people, veterans, civil rights groups, blacks, whites and so many other groups and individuals, in revulsion and in common opposition to Trump's horrible ways, in common disgust by his promotion of hate, misogyny and greed, and in common resolve to oppose this President and to work for the day when our country is free of his malevolent influence. 
 
 
 

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