Re: Elvis

[Paul A. Buch <pbuch...>]

 From www.jewhoo.com

*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!

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. The King's 
Jewish G-G-GMother 
<http://www.elvispresleyonline.com/html/elvis_genealogy.html> Memphis 
Jewish Community <http://www.hadassah.org/news/Dec00/travel.htm> 
Schmelvis <http://www.elvis.com.au/news/articles/whatthe/schmelvis.htm>


Paul