Monday, October 3, 2011

CLOSER TO SPIELBERG

My parents were just in LA to visit their granddaughter - not me, my sister or my wife:) Their stay was wonderful, and talking to my dad, he told me a few more things I didn't know about my grandfather. Moshe Tolpolar traveled back and forth between Bessarabia and Brazil before he settled forever in Porto Alegre, in 1931. However, in the 20's he already started to leave his mark in this Brazilian town. First, he subscribed to the legendary Yiddish-language daily newspaper The Forward, based in New York (http://www.forward.com/).

But before that, in 1915, he had been one of the founders of the first Yiddish-language newspaper in Brazil, Di Menscheit, in Porto Alegre.

My dad said that Moshe also subscribed to the Jewish Argentinian newspaper "El Diario Israelita" and the Brazilian magazine "Aonde Vamos?" (both in the 50's). The funny thing was that while The Forward was a left-oriented newspaper, "Aonde Vamos?" was written by right-wing Jews.

While in the Grove/Farmer's Market (if you've been in LA you've been there), we spoke more about philosophical matters. I asked my dad "So now that you're 72 years-old, what life lesson could you give me, is there anything special advice?" He looked and me and promptly replied "I'm still looking for it".

The same day we had dinner at the Kosher restaurant "The Milky Way" owned and hosted by Leah Adler, Steven Spielbeg's mom. The food was just OK. Actually Leah is the real star of the establishment, cheerful and very sharp. Walking around, you can see pictures of her with the famous son and other celebrities. We all had a great time.




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