Samuel and Solal’s father recently moved to New York from Madrid to spend more time with his sons. “He is a wonderful and loving dad” is all Lévy will divulge. In other ways, she and Berwin appear to be just another couple of well-off homemakers raising their children in a protected bubble of wealth and accomplishment.
One of the family’s most important bonds is the secular Judaism they observe, chiefly by treating Sabbath dinners as sacred. “I would never make a social date on a Friday night,” insists Berwin, who says the tradition anchored her childhood, when her parents attracted an array of celebrated figures in politics and the arts to their table. With regard to Israel, however, Lévy takes a position that Berwin places to the right of former prime minister Ariel Sharon’s. “We have bread fights over Israel,” Berwin admits. “So that’s always amusing.”
Earlier this year, Berwin, started out as an entertainment lawyer, earned a master’s degree in mental health counseling and wellness from New York University. “I always thought I’d be a therapist,” she says. “But now I don’t know.” Even when she was a film producer, her true passion was theater. “If you can’t find me on a Wednesday afternoon,” she chirps, “it means I’m at a matinee.” And now, with Mark Lee, she’s launching the Berwin-Lee Theater Foundation to support young playwrights.
“She always takes me to the family dramas, like Death of a Salesman or Tribes,” Caleb says. “That’s her typical way of getting across that our family isn’t so bad.”
