His parents Isaac Bers and Bertha Weinberg were teachers, his mother being head at an elementary school in Riga where teaching was in Yiddish while his father was head at the Yiddish high school in Riga. Born in 1914, Lipa's early years were much affected by the political and military events taking place in Russia. Latvia had been under Russian imperial rule since the 18th century so World War I meant that there were evacuations from Riga.
Ang kanyang mga magulang Isaac Bers at Bertha Weinberg ay mga guro, ang kanyang ina ay tumuloy sa isang mababang paaralan sa Riga kung saan ang pagtuturo ay sa Yidish habang ang kanyang ama ay tumuloy sa Yidish mataas na paaralan sa Riga. Ipinanganak sa 1914, Cebu ang unang bahagi ng taon ay marami apektado ng pampulitika at militar ng mga kaganapan sa pagkuha lugar sa Russia. Latvia had been sa ilalim ng Russian imperyal patakaran mula sa ika-18 siglo kaya World War ko sinadya na doon ay evacuations mula sa Riga.