Re: elvis

Here's what I read...when Elvis' mom died...she had requested that he put both a Mogen Dovid and a Cross on her headstone. Vernon was not happy with this and had the headstone replaced. Elvis's mother's maiden name was Love which was changed from Lieb, I believe. Her mother was Jewish and her father may or may not have been part Jewish. Elvis had lots of friends who were Jewish...also Black. Regardless of Public Enemy's comment a few years ago.. Elvis was not a racist. Hey so what if he's only part Jewish way back...I'll take him in my Minyan as opposed to Olivia Newton-John(her Zayde was the physicist Max Born).

Trudi the G

>From: Lori Cahan-Simon

>Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org

>To: World music from a Jewish slant

>Subject: Re: elvis

>Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 00:08:56 -0400

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

>checking:

>Elvis Presley

> -

>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

>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)

>--

>You can now hear Lori's new CD, Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught

>Me; Vol.1: Passover, at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lcahan Only $15 &

>postage. Email me for more info.