S t r e +.1 t Wise STYLE 11.1,vv.V•iz Home Kitchens of Local Chefs Antiques for the Tabletop Creative Renovatic4i in Oak Park and Birmingham Mod Goes Modern For Fall ■ Arbor Rx 11 Mile & Lahser ■ Arbor Rx Evergreen & 12 Mile FARMINGTON HILLS ■ Efros Rx Grand River & Drake ■ Borders Book Store Orchard Lk. S. of 14 Mile ■ B. Dalton Tel-12 Mall ■ Kroger Perry Rx ■ Borders Book Store Southfield & 13 Mile ■ Perry Rx 12 Mile & Farmington ■ Efros Rx Greenfield & 10 Mile ■ Perry Rx 14 Mile & Northwestern ■ Majestic Market Lahser & Civic Center ■ Warren Rx Middlebelt & 14 Mile 12 Mile & Halsted ■ Seven-Eleven Franklin Rd. S. of 12 Mile ■ Togos Tel-12 Mall OAK PARK ■ Lincoln Rx Coolidge & Lincoln ■ Oak Park Book Center Nine Mile & Coolidge ■ Seven-Eleven Lincoln E. of Greenfield BIRMINGHAM ■ Barnes & Noble Telegraph & Maple A young German immigrant who became one of the world's leading photographers. ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR Bold Fashions for Men SOUTHFIELD Get The Picture? WEST BLOOMFIELD ■ Arbor Rx Telegraph & Long Lake ■ Barnes and Noble Orchard Lk. S. of Maple ■ Efros Rx Orchard Lk. & Maple ■ Kroger 14 Mile & Farmington ■ Mapleview Party Store Maple & Farmington ■ Seven-Eleven Orchard Lake & Lone Pine NOVI ■ Birmingham Rx 1220 Woodward ■ Borders Book Store Novi Rd. & 1-96 ■ Savon Rx Telegraph & Maple ■ Doubleday Books Twelve Oaks STYLE 27676 Franklin Road • Southfield, Mi 48034 • 810-354-6060 • fax 810-354-1210 PUBLISHED BY THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Q: Please explain the privileges and honor of being a kohen. And are their any limitations? My father was a kohen. As his daughter (and being pregnant when he died), I was told not to go to the cemetery at this funeral. Why? From reader S.S. in Baltimore A: In the time of the Temple, the priests performed numer- ous ritual functions, chief among which was making all the sacrificial offerings. With the destruction of the Temple, the ancient form of Judaism practiced by our ancestors was modified into the religious way of life we have today. Nonethe- less, Halachah (Jewish law) preserved much of the legal structure surrounding the con- duct of Jews belonging to the priestly class. In post-Temple Judaism there are few, if any, privileges a kohen enjoys. He receives the first aliyah in the Torah read- ing. Although according to Ha- lachah a kohen should lead the Birkat Hamazon (blessings said after eating a meal), the law largely is not observed. Among the rituals he performs are the blessing of the people (duchan- ing), and pidyon ha-ben, (re- demption of the firstborn). All of the ancient restrictions regarding mai riage still stand. According to Halachah, a kohen may not marry an unchaste woman, a convert to Judaism, a divorcee or a widow who has received chalitza (who has been refused a levirate marriage). Most rabbis also forbid a kohen to marry a woman when both her parents are proselytes. A kohen may not come in di- rect contact with the dead, ex- cept for his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, unmarried sister or wife. He also must bury the abandoned dead. A kohen may not enter into or above an enclosure in which a dead body is lying. Most Jew- ish funeral homes have a spe- cial room, closed off from the auditorium where the corpse rests, for kohanim who wish to attend a funeral. In Israel, many hospitals are construct- ed so that kohanim will not en- ter an enclosed space where a corpse may be. Because a ko- hen may not come closer than four cubits to a grave, many Jewish cemeteries allocate a special section for burial of ko- hen family members. Q: Was Alfred Eisen- staedt, the famous photographer who re- cently passed away at age 95, Jewish? From readers D.G. and S.G. in Farmington Hills A: Yes. Born in 1898 in Germany, Eisenstaedt was one of the leading pho- tographers of this century, though odd- ly enough his career didn't begin until he was 28. Eisenstaedt's ear- ly assignments in- Kohenim cannot come in contact with the dead. cluded shooting the flight of Germany's Q: I always thought Emma Gold- Graf Zeppelin to Brazil, and the Ethiopian-Italian war. His Eu- man was a Russian anarchist. But ropean collection was so im- now I learn she is buried in the pressive that, by the time he United States. What's the story? arrived in the United States in A: In fact, Emma Goldman 1935, he found a job right away, was born in Lithuania, though working for a new publication she grew up in Germany and called Life magazine. Eisenstaedt's specialty was Russia before emigrating, in 1885, to the United States. on-the-spot news, especially on She was later deported to Rus- the battlefield, though he pro- sia, and after becoming disil- duced hundreds of portrait shots lusioned with Bolshevism, she of Hollywood stars and leading immigrated to England and political figures. later Canada, where she died. Q: My fiancee and I plan to spend Emma was a rebel from ear- ly on. She argued with her our honeymoon watching drag rac- father and her teachers, and ing. In fact, we've been saving up , then with American society as for years for this exciting event. The -\ a whole, which she found im- moral. In the United States, cars! The beer! The crowds! Hey — she founded Mother Earth we're talking excitement with a cap- magazine, which the govern- ital E! ment banned after she began As we were planning for our trip, denouncing, nonstop, drafting my fiancee and I began to wonder soldiers to fight in World War whether this fine sport has had any I. Jewish racers. Can Tell Me Why get Labeled an undesirable alien, Emma Goldman was us on the right track (ha, ha, ha — deported in 1919 to Russia, get it? On the right track)? where she continued to write A: Not only has there been a and lecture. She argued for Jewish drag racer, he was a the freedom of the champion. His name was individual Kenny Burn- and against stein, and in any constraints 1988 he won imposed by soci- his fourth Na- ety and governments. tional Hot Rod As- Among her works are Anar- sociation funny-car world title. chism and Other Essays and But wait. There's more. In 1989, Living My Life. Mr. Burnstein garnered his 30th Although U.S. officials racing victory, making him the never allowed Emma Gold- fourth most successful winning man to reenter the United driver in drag-racing history. States, they did permit her burial in this country. Her fi- Send questions to "Tell Me Why" nal resting place is the Wald- c I o The Jewish News, 27676 heim Forest Home Cemetery Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI in Forest Park, Ill. 48034 or send fax to 354-6069.