Rabbi, political activist, former state legislator Barry Silver dies

Barry Silver, a rabbi, lawyer, former elected official and a lifelong activist for animals, the environment and liberal causes, has died.

Silver, who lived west of Boca Raton, died Thursday — the day after copies arrived of a new book he’d written.

He had been diagnosed with colon cancer 15 years ago, said Noah Silver, one of his brothers. Silver was 67.

Silver filled many roles and was involved in myriad causes over the years. Several people who knew Silver described him as a crusader for the underdog.

“He was a crusader. He was a warrior,” Noah Silver said.

“He went to bat for the underdog all the time,” said Sharon Leibovitz, congregation coordinator at Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor, where Silver was the spiritual leader.

“He was always for the underdog,” said state Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Palm Beach County Democrat. “He was always a voice for the voiceless, (asking) ‘How do I help be a voice for the voiceless?’ He didn’t mind controversy at all.”

Range of causes

Silver embraced controversy on a range of issues and causes.

Most recently, Skidmore said, Silver was heavily involved in a successful 2023 effort to block a developer’s plans for a major project in Palm Beach County’s Agriculture Reserve, an area the county’s voters decided decades ago should be preserved for farmland and wetlands, water resources and open space.

In 2022 he and his synagogue sued the state over its newly enacted law banning almost all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. Later that year, the Palm Beach County chapter of the National Organization for Women, named Silver “Feminist of the Year.”

In the early 1990s, Silver represented a hot dog vendor who was arrested at Forest Hill Boulevard and Military Trail for violating a county law that prohibited roadside vendors from wearing thong bikinis. The misdemeanor charge was later dismissed. In the lawsuit, Silver argued that the vendor dress code was constitutionally vague, and a judge agreed. His client received a confidential settlement from Palm Beach County.

Other recent actions sought to remove the Bible from Palm Beach County schools to illustrate the hypocrisy of people who want to ban other books from the schools. He has led campaigns for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and combating antisemitism.

State House

In 1996, Silver was elected to a Palm Beach County district in the Florida House of Representatives after a contentious Democratic primary and runoff primary.

“He enjoyed politics. He followed it. He was not made for it,” Noah Silver said.

Though elected a Democrat, “if the Democrats all wanted to do something, and he thought they should do something else, he would tell them,” his brother recalled. “He wasn’t good at compromising.”

He served only one term, and was defeated in a Democratic primary in 1998.

“He didn’t really love the legislative process. He didn’t really fit. He was too unique,” said Skidmore, who was a legislative aide for many years before she was elected to the state House.

Silver lost a 2002 primary in which he was seeking the nomination to return to the state House.

Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor

Silver and his parents founded Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor in Boynton Beach. After his father’s death, Barry Silver was the congregation’s spiritual leader.

He was the creator of cosmic Judaism, which Silver’s website describes as a union of science and religion to provide a framework for what Leibovitz described as a rational approach to the Bible.

Copies of the new Silver-written book “Cosmic Judaism — uniting Judaism and Science to enlighten the world,” were delivered to his house Wednesday afternoon. Early the next morning, he died, Leibovitz said.

“He had a great sense of humor. He was just very funny,” said Skidmore, who has spoken at the synagogue. “He did not take himself too seriously.”

At the synagogue, and elsewhere, Silver sang, and would often take popular music from the Carpenters, Diana Ross or Neil Diamond and rewrite the lyrics for Jewish holidays or activist causes, Leibovitz said.

Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” for example, became “Sweet Sabbath Wine,” and his “Coming to America” became “Shabbat Across America.”

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Always active

Silver was always active in causes he cared about.

“It’s not necessarily that he won a particular case or that he won a lawsuit. His achievement is that he lived what he believed. A lot of people compromise in life. And his achievement was to the last day he did what he thought was right,” his brother said.

“It’s very difficult to do that. It’s very difficult to do what you think is right and stick to it. His entire life he had pressure to compromise or back off. … He could care less about money or about fame — he was as humble as could be — that wasn’t his goal. His goal was to make things better.”

Leibovitz said it was vital to Silver to take actions to improve the world, and not remain silent.

She said he was constantly involved in a range of activities, even when his health wasn’t good.

“He was always moving. He was doing something,” she said. That could mean five or six events in one day, including performing a wedding then changing out of his suit into a T-shirt to advocate for a cause at a rally.

“He was definitely an activist for challenges and issues that are out there. He was an environmentalist. He loved nature. He loved animals. He loved people,” said Leibovitz, who knew Silver for almost 30 years.

“He remained true to exactly who he was: A little quirky with his singing and his guitar playing but dedicated to good causes and to Democratic causes” especially related to the environment and civil liberties, Skidmore said, describing him as “a stalwart on Democratic values that were important to the Jewish community.”

Early years

Silver was born Nov. 18, 1956, in Stamford, Conn., to Rabbi Samuel Silver and Elaine (Shapiro) Silver.

Noah Silver said his brother would stay up at night teaching himself languages, reading history and encyclopedias. Leibovitz said Silver was fluent in French, Spanish, Hebrew, Yiddish and English, Leibovitz said.

Noah Silver said his brother never used caffeine or alcohol, and was a vegetarian “before he was a teenager.”

“The Bible says since we’re the highest species our job is to take care of the earth and the animals. … In his mind (he thought), ‘How could I kill an animal if I’m supposed to be taking care of them,’” Noah Silver said.

Silver attended his first year of college at the University of Connecticut, then joined other family members in South Florida. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida Atlantic University and a law degree from Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University.

Silver is survived by his wife, Francine, and sons Ari and Brandon, and three of his four brothers, Josh, Noal and Daniel.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Lee.

A celebration of Silver’s life is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, March 24, at Rubin Memorial Chapel, 7340 Boynton Beach Blvd., in Boynton Beach. The chapel also plans to offer video of Sunday’s celebration of life online.

This report includes information from Sun Sentinel archives.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Post.news.