Passion and money.

There was an obituary in "The New York Times" the other day of a movie producer called Mo Rothman who died at 92. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/movies/mo-rothman-dies-at-92-revived-interest-in-charlie-chaplin.html?ref=obituaries

Rothman was the man who brought Charlie Chaplin and his movies back to America after Chaplin had been essentially exiled by McCarthy-era hate-mongering for "left-leaning" views and moral turpitude. (At separate times, he married two 16-year-old girls--take that, Woody Allen.)

Here's a bit from the obit: "When Chaplin, a British citizen, left for Switzerland in 1952 after residing in the United States for 40 years, Attorney General James P. McGranery told reporters that he would not be allowed to return unless he could prove his “moral worth.” Chaplin announced soon afterward that he would never return."

Rothman worked with Chaplin. Re-released his black-and-white films and engineered his return to the US, which of course was great publicity for his movies. Eventually Chaplin was awarded an honorary Oscar and made the cover of Time Magazine. Along the way, a whole new generations of Americans was exposed to Chaplin and both Chaplin and Rothman made a fortune through the re-releases.

No real point today other than it's heartening to see someone get rich for following his passions.

It's a new year for Jews.

This sort of thing gives me hope.