Keep your pieces accessible and protected, even if you don’t display them.
Up until recently, almost every frum household had some kind of breakfront displaying silver Judaica. Are we the only ones in the world who still use silver objects on a regular basis? Possibly.
Silver is traditionally considered the most elegant way to enhance a Shabbos or Yom Tov table. But these days we’re not all fans of displaying our silver – even if we do use it every week. I’m one of those people. I like silver on my Shabbos table, but I don’t like open storage. Seasonal silver pieces get wrapped in plastic wrap and stored until they’re needed, but that still leaves the more commonly used items.
I needed a way to store the pieces in an organized, but protected way – that wouldn’t require polishing every week. You can’t just throw them in a bin, or even line them up in a drawer without them bumping into each other.
So I bought this china organizer on Amazon and set up the compartments to fit the pieces I use most. The things I use every week just get put back into their slot after Shabbos. The ones I use a bit less frequently – an extra becher, a second napkin holder – get put into a plastic bag first so they don’t tarnish unnecessarily.
I then put a strip or two of the anti-tarnish paper on the lid of the organizer to help slow the tarnishing. It’s not perfect because it’s not airtight, but the pieces can be maintained with a quick swipe of a silver polishing glove once a month or so.
(The organizers come in various sizes and shapes. I use a flat one for a silver challah tray and it stacks nicely on top of the sectioned one right on the buffet shelf.)
While this might not be the perfect solution, it’s one that works for us. It’s neat, the silver is not getting scratched and dented and polishing is kept to a minimum. And no glass fronted cabinets at all!
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