Abraham's Son, Chapter 25

 INT. ABRAHAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

After putting Ike to bed that same evening, ABRAHAM begins his study of the U.N. resolution on climate change.  This lasts for many days as the resolution is voluminous and very detailed.  He also reads as much as he can about the issue of climate change.  ABRAHAM wants to know as much as possible about climate change for when he confronts ROBERT, to beat back all of ROBERT's potential arguments.  

INT. SANCTUARY AT ABRAHAM'S SYNAGOGUE - DAY

With IKE on next Saturday morning, ABRAHAM participates in shabbos services plus prays for God's help on his mission for God.

ABRAHAM:  (whispering) Please, dear God, give me the strength to fulfill the mission you have bestowed upon me.  But, also please help me to protect the child whose life is more precious to me than my own.  

INT. BOOK STORE - DAY

With IKE, ABRAHAM is at checkout line at a local Barnes & Noble with two books for his son and two books on climate change.

INT. OFFICE OF PROFESSOR AT QUEENS COLLEGE - DAY 

ABRAHAM consults with local PROFESSOR who is an expert on climate change.

ABRAHAM:  PROFESSOR, thank you for seeing me today.  As I told you over the phone, I've been studying the U.N. resolution on climate change and I have some questions I hope you can answer.

PROFESSOR:  Sure.  I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

INT. ABRAHAM'S BEDROOM - DAY

ABRAHAM makes phone call to ROBERT's cell phone.

ROBERT SILVER (O.S.):  Hello, ROBERT SILVER.

ABRAHAM:  Yes, Robert.  It's me, ABRAHAM SHAPIRO.  How are you?

ROBERT SILVER (O.S.):  Fine...busy.

ABRAHAM:  Yes.  I understand.  Congratulations on your new position with the president.

ROBERT SILVER (O.S.):  Thanks.  I appreciate it, ABRAHAM, but I am very busy here at the White House.

ABRAHAM:  Sure, but I'd like to make an appointment to come see you at the White House.  Not a social call.  It is of great importance.

ROBERT is surprised by what ABRAHAM said.

ROBERT SILVER (O.S.):  Okay.  I'll switch you to my secretary who'll schedule an appointment.  See you soon.  

INT. ROBERT SILVER'S OFFICE - DAY

ROBERT puts ABRAHAM on hold and connects to his secretary.

ROBERT SILVER:  (talks to secretary) PHYLLIS, please schedule an appointment for my friend ABRAHAM SHAPIRO.

PHYLLIS:  Of course, Mr. Silver. (talking to ABRAHAM) Mr. Shapiro, this is PHYLLIS, Mr. SILVER's secretary.  I can put you down on the schedule for the first Tuesday, next month at 9 AM.  Is that convenient for you?

ABRAHAM (O.S.):  What?  That's almost three weeks away.

PHYLLIS:  I'm sorry, but Mr. SILVER is very busy.  Please check in at the White House gate when you arrive.  See you then.  

ABRAHAM (O.S.):  Thank you.

Costa do Sauipe

In the summer of 1983, my first wife Bonita, my seven year-old daughter Rachel and I took a two week vacation to Hawaii.  Rachel has referred to this as the family's best vacation.  It was wonderful, especially our time on Maui.

However, my son Bret was not born until two years later.  Ironically, he has travelled to Hawaii for work several times and the rest of us not at all since 1983.

In the winter of 2004-2005, before Bret's trips to Hawaii, I decided to take him to another tropical location, to sort of make up for him not going on our family vacation to Hawaii.  We went to a resort in the Brazilian State of Bahia.

He and I flew from New York to Sao Paulo and then transferred to another flight to Salvador, the capital of Bahia.  From there, we took a special bus to Costa do Sauipe.

This resort is in essence a gated community consisting of five hotels plus restaurants, stores and various activities available to all its guests.  We stayed at the Sofitel Hotel.

Bret and I enjoyed a breakfast and dinner buffet as guests of the hotel.  We lunched at one of the restaurants outside the hotel.

One day, we sat an outdoor restaurant and placed our order with a waiter.  Our food took a very long time to arrive until we realized that our order was delivered to the wrong table.  The two men there ate the food we ordered but refused to pay for it since it wasn't what they ordered.  We eventually got our food.

One night we went to a bar and Bret got his first legal alcoholic beverage, a caipirinha.  The legal age in Brazil is eighteen, while in the US it is twenty-one.  Bret was nineteen.

Between meals, we spent time at the hotel's pool.  Early in the morning Bret liked to drink agua de coco right from the freshly cut coconuts available free to the hotel's guests.  I remember strolling on the beautiful sandy beach on Costa do Sauipe.  One day, Bret and I went horseback riding.

I didn't want Bret to think that this resort was typical of Brazil.  So, I hired a taxi driver to take us to Salvador, the capital of Bahia.  Our first stop was at the Basilica do Senhor do Bonfim, the most famous church in Bahia.  As we got out of our taxi, we were mobbed by parishioners who put religious bands on our wrists.

We then went to the Mercado Modelo where I bought Bret a jersey of the Brazilian national football team.  In the old part of Salvador, we visited a museum dedicated to the Brazilian author Jorge Amado, a couple of whose books I had read in English.  We had hot dogs from a street vendor for lunch.

On our return to the airport in Sao Paulo, we discovered that a snow storm in New York caused our flight there to be cancelled.  Luckily, we were able to get on a flight to Miami.

Once in Miami, Bret and I put our names on a waiting list for the one flight that was able to leave for New York.  We were lucky to get a couple of the last seats available.  

I remember arriving in New York while a storm was still hitting the area and we were not appropriately dressed.  But we survived.         

Exodus

 Exodus is a 1960 epic historical drama film about the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. Produced and directed by Otto Preminger, the screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo from the 1958 novel of the same name by Leon Uris. 

The film stars Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson, Jill Haworth, Peter Lawford, Lee J. Cobb, Sal Mineo, John Derek and George Maharis.  Ernest Gold won the Academy Award for Best Music Score.

The film begins with thousands of European Jews, struggling to build a new life in Palestine, are forced by the British Army into an internment camp on the island of Cyprus.  The Arabs don't want them arriving in Palestine, a country they want all for themselves after they attempt to expel the British who had governed the country since the end of World War I.  

Through chicanery, Ari (Newman) smuggles over six hundred internees out of the camp onto a cargo ship (renamed the Exodus) bound for Palestine.  The British blockade the ship in the harbor.

Ari calls for a hunger strike to force the British to relent.  It eventually succeeds.  The Exodus sails to Palestine.

When the British pull out of Palestine in May 1948, the Jewish residents declare their independence as the State of Israel in the area designated for them by the United Nations.  However, fighting erupts between the Israelis and the Arab residents of Palestine plus invading neighboring Arab states who do not want the Jewish state to exist.

In 1948, the Jews were considered victims both of the Nazi driven Holocaust in Europe and the attacks by Arabs who outnumbered them.  After 75 years of successful statehood along with economic prosperity, Israel's perception by much of the world has been transferred from victimhood to oppressor of their Arab neighbors.

Thomas Sowell (author and social critic) was asked how Jews can stop being hated.   His response was, "Fail."

 

Trip to Brazil

 At approximately 6 AM on Saturday, December 23, 2023, my daughter Rachel, her husband Mike and her children Nate and Leo arrived at Guarulhos Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil.  After picking up a rental car (Localiza), they proceeded to our apartment on Rua Conego Eugenio Leite in Pinheiros.  

At approximately 9:15 AM the same day, my son Bret and his wife Pam arrived by plane as well.  They took an Uber to get to us.  

On their arrivals I had pao de queijo for all of them, a traditional Brazilian pastry.  For lunch, Cristina ordered tortas de palmito and legumes.  She also prepared rice, beans and a salad.

I led a walking tour of our neighborhood that included our supermarket Oba and our bakery/restaurant AJ.  All were impressed.  

For dinner, we went to IT Sushi on Rua dos Pinheiros.  After, we had ice cream at Bacio di Latte.  

My grandchildren stayed overnight in our apartment.  My children and their spouses had reservations at the Hilton Garden Inn on Reboucas.

On Sunday, December 24, we all drove (in two cars) to Itapetininga.  We stopped on the way at Castelinho da Pamonha (corn store).  Next stop would be at the home of Cristina's cousin Yara and her husband Beto.  My family was received by Cristina's family with great warmth and hospitality.  We stayed overnight at the Colonial Flat Hotel (owned by Marcos and Viviane, Yara's daughter).

At Christmas, December 25, my family participated in Beach Tennis near Yara's home.  Afterwards, we all enjoyed a Christmas party at the home of Marcos and Viviane.  After lunch, my family drove to our apartment in Guaruja (Rua Benjamin Constant).

On Tuesday, December 26, my family had lunch at Glamour Restaurant.  They spent time on Pitangueras Beach, which was very crowded.  That was followed by dinner at Tahiti.

On Wednesday, December 27, all six of my family lunched at the por kilo on Benjamin Constant (Fogao Caipira).  They played Beach Tennis in the afternoon.  They dined at Avelino's.

On Thursday, December 28, my family returned to Sao Paulo.  Cristina and I plus my family lunched at Le Jazz Boulangerie on Joaquim Antunes.  After, my family took the Metro to Avenida Paulista and walked to MASP, Sao Paulo's Art Museum.  For dinner, we ordered three pizzas delivered from Margherita Pizzeria in Jardins.

On Friday, December 29, my family visited the Mercado Municipal.  They lunched on cold cut sandwiches at the restaurant there.  We all went to Borgers Burgers for dinner.

On Saturday, December 30, my family walked to Jacare Restaurant in Vila Madelena.  To get there, they passed through Cemiterio Sao Paulo which is full of beautiful sculptures.  They then visited the Beco de Batman (grafite).  After lunch, the adults then walked all the way to Rua Oscar Freire in Jardins.  At night, after dinner at AJ, Rachel, Mike, Bret and Pam went to the Skye Bar in Parque Ibirapuera for drinks and to meet a colleague of my daughter's.

On Sunday, December 31, my family lunched at Sushi Yassu in Liberdade.  Later, they Ubered to the airport for their trips home.  

I especially enjoyed hosting my grandchildren.  While at our building, the boys enjoyed playing basketball and swimming in the pool.  I will always remember preparing oatmeal every morning for Leo.  Nate skipped breakfast.