Brazil’s Most Beloved Person
Silvio Santos (Courtesy: SBT)
Senor Abravanel (b. 1930) was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Sephardic parents who immigrated from Greece and Turkey. He is a descendant of (former Jew of the Week) Don Isaac Abravanel, who was treasurer to the Spanish monarchy in the 15th century. Senor worked hard from a young age to help support his family. At 14, while working as a street vendor, he got his first job at a radio station. It didn’t last long, as he made more money on the street. Several years later, Abravanel moved to São Paulo and worked a number of jobs in broadcasting before being hired to host a TV game show. Abravanel adopted the stage name “Silvio Santos”. His show was hugely popular, and Santos quickly became a wealthy celebrity. He soon bought the show’s production company, Baú da Felicidade, and started expanding across Brazilian media. He also diversified into real estate, hotels, agriculture, cosmetics, and banking. After years of trying to get his own TV network, the government finally relented in 1981, and Santos launched TVS (now SBT, Brazil’s second most-watched channel). By 1989, Santos was recognized as Brazil’s most famous personality, and that year he even ran for president! His life story—from poor immigrant to Brazil’s first celebrity billionaire—has served as an inspiration to countless Brazilians. He is admired for trying to help his country wherever he can and, in a place of rampant corruption, for paying his taxes. (In fact, Santos is Brazil’s single biggest individual tax-payer.) He was recently voted by Brazilians to be the most beloved person in the country. Amazingly, although he is nearly 90 years old, Santos still appears on television as the host of the Silvio Santos Show.
Why is the Month of Adar Lucky?
Words of the Week
When we want to believe something, we ask ourselves, “Can I believe it?” …and if we find even a single piece of pseudo-evidence, we can stop thinking. When we don’t want to believe something, we ask ourselves, “Must I believe it?” …and if we find a single reason to doubt the claim, we can dismiss it.
– Jonathan Haidt