Re: elvis

[Lori Cahan-Simon <l_cahan...>]

Here is the scoop from Jewhoo.com, who is conscientious about fact checking:


Elvis Presley <http://www.nicheseek.com/index.cgi?keywords=Elvis+Presley&sa=Go> 
-  When Elvis was in high school he served, without
pay, as a "Shabbos helper" (did tasks Jews could not do on the Sabbath) for
a Memphis synagogue--the synagogue's rabbi and Elvis' family shared a two
family home. Since Elvis' family did not have a phone, the rabbi took some
calls for them. Including the call to come down to Sun studios for his first
recording session. Special note: In a bio, verified by the estate, it is
established that Elvis' great-great grandmother was Jewish. Elvis was a devout
Christian, himself. (Gov. Mario Cuomo, actor Paul Sorvino, journalist Pete
Hamill, and popular songwriter Harry Warren were also "shabbos helpers" in
their youth. Hamill has written a very good novel based on his experience)
Special note: If you want to class Elvis as Jewish because his maternal 
great-great-grandmother
was Jewish--fine. Just don't send us any letters. Thanks! Little update:
A visitor who seems very credible tells us he knew the rabbi who lived next
door to Elvis. The rabbi told him that Elvis' family was so poor that for
a long time they did not even have a record player. Elvis would come over
to the rabbi's house to play his records. [A visitor asks us to note that
Leiber and Stoller, two Jewish guys, wrote so many of Elvis' early great
hits. We said okay, because not enough people know about this amazing team.
They wrote "Hound Dog", "Love Me", "Jailhouse Rock", and "Treat Me Nice",
among others. We might as well add that Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman, another
amazing Jewish songwriting team, wrote such Elvis hits as "Surrender," "Little 
Sister," "Suspicion," "Marie's the Name of His Latest Flame" and "Viva Las
Vegas"). Update July 2002: Well, Elvis' "Jewish roots  (long posted on this
site) are the subject of the 2002 documentary, "Schmelvis: Searching for
the King's Jewish Roots." We gather, based on the linked description, that
the film is as much the story of the odd trio who sought out these roots
as it is about Elvis. However, in other descriptions of the film--a few facts
not normally covered in other brief descriptions of Elvis' "Jewish" roots
are brought out:  First, Elvis was aware that he had a Jewish ancestor. His
mother told him about her Jewish ancestor. However, she also told him to
be quiet about it because she believed that many people might be prejudiced
against him if they knew about this ancestry.; Elvis did have a Star of David
put on his mother's grave--but her body was later moved and the current 
gravestone
has no such marker. Nonetheless, Gladys Presley was not Jewish in a religious
sense.; Elvis was a major contributor to Memphis area Jewish charities and
often worked out at the gym at the Memphis Jewish Community Center. //As
a comment, while we don't 'claim' Elvis--this story is--frankly--just a whole
lot more interesting than most other stories of remote Jewish ancestry. 
Moreover,
it shows that Elvis was a great American icon who just about everybody can
relate to. He was a poor white Southern boy who "sang black". He had, among
other lineages, Native American and Jewish roots. He gave poor Southern whites
a cultural hero who was admired around the world. Even his failings are 
reflected
all over the larger culture.       


Speaking of Colin Powell, here's a story that was sent to me quite a 
while ago:

Unlike today's vista of decrepit buildings, dilapidated housing and
rusting junked cars, the South Bronx in 1950 was the home of a large
and thriving community, one that was predominantly Jewish. Today a
mere remnant of this once-vibrant community survives, but in the
1950's the Bronx offered synagogues, mikvas, kosher bakeries, and
kosher butchers - all the comforts one would expect from an observant
Orthodox Jewish community.

The baby boom of the post-war years happily resulted in many new young
parents. As a matter of course, the South Bronx had its own baby
equipment store. Sickser's was located on the corner of Westchester
and Fox, and specialized in "everything for the baby," as its slogan
ran. The inventory began with cribs, baby carriages, playpens, high
chairs, "changing tables", and toys. It went way beyond these to
everything a baby could want or need.

Mr. Sickser, assisted by his son-in-law Lou Kirshner, ran a profitable
business out of the needs of the rapidly-expanding child population.
The language of the store was primarily Yiddish, but Sickser's was a
place where not only Jewish families but also many non-Jewish ones
could acquire the necessary paraphernalia for their newly-arrived
bundles of joy.

Business was particularly busy one spring day, so much so that Mr.
Sickser and his son-in-law could not handle the unexpected throng of
customers. Desperate for help, Mr. Sickser ran out of the store and
stopped the first youth he spotted on the street. "Young man," he
panted, "how would you like to make a little extra money? I need some
help in the store. You want to work a little?" The tall, lanky
African-American boy flashed a toothy smile back. "Yes, sir, I'd like
some work." "Well then, let's get started."

The boy followed his new employer into the store. Mr. Sickser was
immediately impressed with the boy's good manners and demeanor. As the
days went by and he came again and again to lend his help, Mr. Sickser
and Lou both became increasingly impressed with the youth's diligence,
punctuality and readiness to learn. Eventually Mr. Sickser made him a
regular employee at the store. It was gratifying to find an employee
with an almost soldier-like willingness to perform even the most
menial of tasks, and to perform them well. 

>From the age of thirteen until his sophomore year in college, the
young man put in from twelve to fifteen hours a week, at 50 to 75
cents an hour. Mostly, he performed general labor: assembling
merchandise, unloading trucks and preparing items for shipments. He
seemed, in his quiet way, to appreciate not only the steady employment
but the friendly atmosphere Mr. Sickser's store offered. Mr. Sickser
and Lou learned in time about their helper's Jamaican origins, and he
in turn picked up a good deal of Yiddish.

In time the young man was able to converse fairly well with his
employers, and more importantly, with a number of the Jewish customers
whose English was not fluent. At the age of seventeen, the young man,
while still working part-time at Sickser's, began his first semester
at City College of New York. He fit in just fine with his, for the
most part Jewish, classmates -- hardly surprising, considering that he
already knew their ways and their language. But the heavy studying in
the engineering and later geology courses he chose proved quite
challenging. Colin would later recall that Sickser's offered the one
stable point in his life those days.

In 1993, in his position as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
- two years after he guided the American victory over Iraq in the Gulf
War -- Colin Powell visited the Holy Land. Upon meeting Israel's Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir in Jerusalem, he greeted the Israeli with the
words "Men kent reden Yiddish" (We can speak Yiddish).

As Shamir, stunned, tried to pull himself together, the current
Secretary of State-designate continued chatting in his second-favorite
language. He had never forgotten his early days in the Bronx.

Zev Roth is an author living in Israel. The above is excerpted from his book 
"The Monsey-Kiryat Sefer Express: True Tales from Two Cities" (Targum Press)

This will have enlightened you, I hope.
mit frayndshaft,
Lorele


Alex J. Lubet wrote:

>I've also heard he was a shabes goy, along with Colin Powell (who claims to 
>know
>Yiddish!) and Rudy Giuliani.  It's also said he had a Jewish grandmother
>(maternal).  This is all fairly common parlance (although I can't recall my
>sources offhand), but that doesn't make it so!  Worse things could be true!
>
>
>
>
>
>Klezcorner (at) aol(dot)com wrote:
>
>>In a message dated 8/21/2 6:51:29 PM, klezmer (at) yiddishmusic(dot)com 
>>writes:
>>
>><< I don't have time to check this out (going away tomorrow) and the article
>>in the local Jewish weekly has already been clipped and sent to another
>>list member, but I read that Elvis used to live downstairs from a khazn
>> >>
>>
>>do you remember the Jewish weekly that ran the article?
>>Simon
>>
>
>--
>Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
>Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
>Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
>Head, Division Of Composition and Music Theory
>University of Minnesota
>2106 4th St. S
>Minneapolis, MN 55455
>612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)
>
>
>
>

-- 
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