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Merrill Silver
Merrill Silver
A typical New York City street scene; traffic can get in the way.
April 1, 2026, 9:56 am
Three seders, four questions
And also, maybe, a Thanksgiving celebration in May
By Merrill Silver
This is a close-up of Aryeh Leib ben Daniel’s Megillat Esther, created circa 1740.
February 26, 2026, 9:56 am
Purim came early this year
Reflections on an 18th-century megillah at Sotheby’s
By Merrill Silver
January 22, 2026, 9:44 am
Is it too late to say ‘Happy New Year’? 
By Merrill Silver
The Taste of Shabbat band — Judy, Stacy, Ken, Merrill, and Luis.
December 18, 2025, 9:58 am
A new discovery – the telephone!
There’s something to be said for old technology
By Merrill Silver
The Meshorerim are on the bima with Rabbi Julie Roth and guest shelichat tzibor Talia Lakritz. (Screenshot)
October 9, 2025, 9:57 am
A new year and a new word
How singing illuminates the past and brings the future closer
By Merrill Silver
Merrill Silver is feeling great ambivalence at the goodbye party.
August 7, 2025, 9:58 am
The bittersweet party
Our correspondent says goodbye to her last ESL class
By Merrill Silver
These are the adult b’nai mitzvah students at Shomrei Emunah.
June 20, 2025, 12:19 pm
Being very adult about b’nai mitzvah class
What it’s like to help grown-ups prepare for their delayed rite of passage
By Merrill Silver
A cat is ready for a concert at Brighton Gardens.
March 27, 2025, 9:57 am
Brighton Gardens Shabbat
Getting a second chance to be with my father
By Merrill Silver
October 10, 2024, 9:56 am
‘Food is memory’
Inhaling Rosh Hashanah through a nonworking nose
By Merrill Silver
Students worked through this New Yorker story by Roxane Gay; they found much to discuss there.
October 2, 2024, 2:57 pm
The genie is out of the bottle
What it’s like to teach a class of Haitian ESL students right now
By Merrill Silver
Merrill and Andy Silver stand in front of a photo of Andy; it’s made of images of him with challot he’s baked over the years.
June 20, 2024, 9:58 am
The sleepover
What it feels like the first time your 4-year-old grandson stays over without his parents
By Merrill Silver
The multigenerational Simcha band plays at Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Montclair.
March 28, 2024, 9:57 am
My Purim trifecta
Celebrating reluctantly but often in this new post-Oct. 7 world
By Merrill Silver
Even in terrible times, there still is joy.
October 19, 2023, 9:56 am
Life and death and life again
Shabbat Shemini Atzeret in three time zones
By Merrill Silver
How lost we’d be without our map apps. Here, Merrill Silver and her husband, Andy, hike around San Francisco.
September 6, 2023, 7:59 pm
Oh no! I forgot my cellphone
Considering a temporarily Google-free life
By Merrill Silver
June 8, 2023, 10:57 am
Welcome to my backyard
By Merrill Silver
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