Was Elvis Jewish?
August 26, 2014 8:12 AM   Subscribe

According to Tablet Magazine, the King of Rock and Roll had a "great great maternal grandmother" who was Jewish. Hopeful enthusiasts have nominated him for the Jewish-American Hall of Fame (though his less-than-enthusiastic version of "Hava Nagila" suggests that his Jew Score of 5 from Jew or Not Jew.com is well deserved). Jew Watch rejects the theory, pointing out the obvious: "he did have some interest in this aspect of his inheritance, but his personal religion was Christian." Indeed, back in mid-1950s Memphis, he acted as a neighbor's "Shabbas Goy." Be that as it may, he used to wear a Chai necklace (sometimes paired with a cross), saying "I don't want to miss out on going to heaven on a technicality." In the 2012 documentary "Schmelvis," a Hasidic Elvis impersonator named Dan Hartal travels to the Holy Land to plant a tree in Elvis's memory and says Kaddish at Graceland.
posted by GrammarMoses (2 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: At least one of these sites is problematic in a way that makes this post not great for metafilter. -- restless_nomad



 
Ok, so my first comment was deleted, and I will try again. Is it permissible to point out that "Jew Watch" is a viciously hateful anti-semitic website? Do we link to that stuff here? Maybe at least provide a warning? It's for sure not safe for work, for one thing.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:32 AM on August 26, 2014


Well, thanks for the warning. I agree, I don't think we want to be clicking on a link that reads "jew-entertainment-elvis-Presley". Even the phrasing comes off anti-Semitic.
posted by Curious Artificer at 8:41 AM on August 26, 2014


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