The Jewish World of Elvis Presley

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Persoonlijke gegevens Petri "Pieter" Ponsie (Ponci)". genealogieonline . Retrieved August 19, 2023.

Let’s begin with the fact that Elvis was halachically Jewish. I can hear you with your suspicious minds doubting that fact. But genealogists have now confirmed Elvis’s maternal great-great-grandmother was a Jewish woman named Nancy Burdine. It’s believed her family immigrated to America from what is now Lithuania around the time of the American Revolution. Burdine was born in Mississippi in 1826 and died in 1887.Burdine’s great-granddaughter was Gladys Love Smith, who married Vernon Presley in 1933. Two years later, Gladys gave birth to Elvis in Tupelo. The family moved to Memphis when Elvis was 13. So through the direct maternal line, Elvis is halachically Jewish. There is another Elvis however who is in fact observant. Dan Hartal is the world's only Orthodox Jewish Elvis impersonator, and goes by the moniker -- Elvis Schmelvis. Presley himself attended the Assembly of God Church with his family in his early childhood, and was deeply impacted by the music he encountered there. He did not practice Judaism, even though a report on Haaretz, an Israeli news outlet, did claim him as Jewish thanks to his maternal ancestry.

Yardley, Jonathan (June 8, 2001). "Colonel of Lies". The Washington Post . Retrieved February 15, 2023. When he became rich, Elvis reportedly donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Memphis Jewish Welfare Fund and played racquetball late at night at the Memphis Jewish Community Centre. PLEASE CHANGE TO Having sold over one billion records worldwide, Presley is recognized as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records. Firstly, here’s a look at Elvis’ parent’s ethnicities. On his mother’s side, Elvis had some Native American ancestry, specifically Cherokee ancestry. According to the book Elvis and Gladys, his maternal great-great-great grandmother was a Cherokee woman named Morning White Dove. She married a man named William Mansell, who was of French ancestry. They got married at a time when marriage between Native Americans and white people was not uncommon in the American South.

One of Elvis’s more famous contributions to the estate was a meditation garden, where he, his parents and his grandmother Minnie Mae Presley are buried. Watching over them is a looming marble statue of Jesus Christ on the cross, engraved with the name “Presley.” There have been suggestions that Elvis’ handlers didn’t want his Jewish heritage known to the public, fearing it might prompt some of his Southern fans to abandon him. But Marchese says there is no evidence of that. window, document, "script", "https://95662602.adoric-om.com/adoric.js", "Adoric_Script", "adoric","9cc40a7455aa779b8031bd738f77ccf1", "data-key");

This edit request to Elvis Presley has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.In 1954, Elvis recorded his first hit record, “That’s All Right,” at Memphis’ Sun Record Co. But the Presleys didn’t own a record-player. Harold says Elvis borrowed the Fruchter’s record-player so he could play the song for his parents. If there is one regret that Geller has about his time with Elvis it's that he wasn't able to wrap teffilin with him. According to Max Wallace and Jonathan Goldstein, authors of "Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley's Jewish Roots," Nancy Burdine “probably” came from a family that immigrated from Lithuania around the time of the American Revolution.

Presley worked for the rabbi's family, doing tasks Jews were not permitted to do on the Jewish Sabbath. He did this for free. The rabbi, in turn, did things like lend Presley his record player and arrange for a summer camp trip for Presley. When Presley hit it big, he made a major donation to the rabbi's religious school. a b c Jobe Pierce, Patricia (1994). The Ultimate Elvis. Simon & Schuster Ltd. ISBN 978-0-671-87022-5. Elvis' mother passed away on August 14, 1958, and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis. The cross statue with angels was placed in March 1959. This headstone, which features the Star of David to represent Gladys' Jewish heritage, was placed at her grave in December 1964. In October 1977, both Elvis and his mother were buried at the Meditation Garden at Graceland. Nash, Alanna (2002). The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley. Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-85410-948-4. In addition to the Memphis Jewish Community Center, he supported the Memphis Hebrew Academy (now the Margolin Hebrew Academy). Larry Moss, a Jewish diehard fan, says Elvis also paid for a senior lounge at Baron Hirsch Synagogue, in memory of the mother of one of his Jewish friends. 7. Elvis honed his fashion sense at Lansky Bros.

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While Presley served in West Germany, Parker was hard at work keeping Presley's name known to the public. He realized that by keeping RCA Victor, and more importantly, the public, hungry for more Presley material, he could negotiate a better contract when Presley returned from active service. [36] He had arranged for Presley to record five singles before his induction, [38] guaranteeing RCA Victor enough material to release over two years. RCA was eager for Presley to record in West Germany. Still, Parker insisted it would ruin his reputation as a regular soldier if he could go into a recording studio. Stories appeared in the press regularly about Presley, including that he would do a live CCTV broadcast when he returned and that he had signed a deal for a series of annual television spectaculars to be broadcast across the country. [38] All of these stories were fabrications, but it kept his name given to the public. Presley had been showing signs of rebellion against Parker, and Parker believed that a stint in the Army would cure him of this. [36]