Tell-Me-Why

When Frida
Met Henry

Rumplestiltskin

Frida Kahlo's Jewish connection — and
comment to a well-known anti-Semite.

the Riveras were directed to the
Wardell residential hotel, located on E.
Kirby and Woodward, across the street
from the DIA. The Wardell billed
Q: I see that the U.S. Postal Service
itself as "The best home address in
has issued a stamp with a self-portrait
Detroit," coded language that meant it
of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. I've
did not accept Jews.
been told she had some Jewish ances-
When Rivera learned that the
try; is there any truth to that?
Wardell
was restricted, he exclaimed,
A: Yes, her father was Jewish.
"But
Frida
and I have Jewish blood!
In his 1983 biography of Kahlo,
We
are
going
to leave!" (Rivera's pater-
author Hayden Herrera discusses her
nal
grandmother,
Ines de Acosta y
background and the few occasions that
Peredo, stemmed from Portuguese
her Jewish roots were exposed.
Jews.)
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y
In light of the possible scandal that
CalderUn (1907-1954) was the daugh-
could erupt if the
ter of Matilde
Riveras did indeed
Calderiin and
move out, and des-
Guillermo Kahlo.
perate
for business in
Frida's mother,
the
Depression,
the
Matilde, was mestizo,
Wardell promised to
that is, the daughter
remove the restric-
of a Spanish mother
tion (whether the
and Mexican-Indian
hotel actually com-
father. Frida's father
plied
is unknown).
was born Wilhelm
During
their stay
Kahlo in Baden-
in
Detroit,
the
Baden, Germany.
Riveras were enter-
His parents,
tained by the city's
Henriette Kaufmann
super-rich
upper
and Jakob Heinrich
class,
whom
Frida, a
Kahlo, were natives
dedicated
commu-
of Arad, Hungary
nist, despised but
(now Romania). In
loved to tease. At a
1891, Wilhelm set-
Henry Ford was put on
dinner party in the
tled in Mexico, where the spot.
home of Henry Ford
he changed his first
I, Frida turned to the
name to Guillermo
auto
pioneer,
known
for his anti-
and became a professional photogra-
Semitic
writings,
and
asked, "Mr.
pher. An avowed atheist, he married
Ford,
are
you
Jewish?"
twice, both times to gentiles. Matilde

W. W. No rto n

PHILLIP AND ELIZABETH
APPLEBAUM

was his second wife, and she had their
four children baptized Catholic.
Although Frida never met her Jewish
grandmother, she inherited Henriette's
thick, joined eyebrows.
In 1929, Frida married Mexican
artist Diego Rivera. From April 1932
to March 1933, they resided in
Detroit, where Rivera had been corn-
missioned to paint a series of murals
in the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).
For a place to live during their stay,

Q: Why is Israel called "the Promised
Land"?
A: Because according to Judaism, God
promised the land to the Jewish peo-
ple to be theirs forever.
In numerous places, the Torah
records the promise, made to the
ancestors and leaders of the Jews,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses.
God made the promise to Abraham

Simone Vitale Band

Hot Ice • Visitor

JoyRide • Nightline

Radio City • Higher Ground

The siddur is used in daily prayers.

Persuasion • L'USA

Cheers • Intrigue

Nouveaute

in Genesis 12:7, 13:15, 15:18, 17:8.
To Isaac, in Genesis 26:3-4. To Jacob,
in Genesis 28:13, 35:12, 48:4.
The promise to Moses, or the
promise quoted by Moses, is in
Exodus 6:4, 6:8, Numbers 13:1, 33:53,

Sun Messengers

Teen Angels

34:2, Deuteronomy 1:8, 12:1, 12:10,
19:8, 26:1, 32:49, 32:52, 34:4.

Q: Why is a Jewish prayer book
called in Hebrew a siddur?
A: Siddur is derived from the
Hebrew seder tefila, "order of prayer,"
a term that arose during the geonic
period (about 550 CE to about
1150).
Much of the Hebrew language is
built on a system of three-letter root
words. By adding vowels, prefixes
and suffixes, the roots can be
changed into nouns, verbs and adjec-
tives.
The root word from which siddur is
derived is s-d-r. The basic meaning of
this root is "order." From it is derived
seder, which means "order"; nisdar
and sudrah, "to be put in order";
sedra, "series" (as in the series of
weekly Torah portions); sadar, "type-
setter"; sadran, "steward" or "usher."
Siddur is the noun formed from
the same root. It was applied to the
prayer book because in Judaism,
daily prayers are recited in a specific
order of morning, afternoon and
evening services, and within each
service, the prayers are recited in a
certain order. Cl

t

Lorio Ross
Entertainment Inc

Call (248) 398-9711

505 S. Lafayette • Royal Oak
www.lorioross.dom

10/12
2001

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