Elvis and the Rabbi
An article in the December 5 edition of The Jewish Press (“The Jewish World of Elvis Presley,” Collecting Jewish History, by Saul J. Singer) brought back a flood of memories from the time I was a reporter at a small all-news radio station located on the outskirts of Albany, N.Y. In the mid-1980s, I hosted a nightly news talk program that aired over the long-defunct WWCN (1460) Radio based in Delmar, New York.
Rabbi Alfred Fruchter, an Orthodox rabbi, founded the Memphis Hebrew Academy before moving to Troy, N.Y. to be the spiritual leader of one of the oldest Orthodox congregations in the country, Beth Tephilah Synagogue in the Collar City. (The shirt collar was invented in Troy, N.Y.)
In September of 1984, I interviewed Rabbi Fruchter. During our chat, Rabbi Fruchter regaled the radio audience with stories about his time in Memphis which included everyday interactions with his neighbor – none other than Elvis Presley. The Fruchters and the Presleys lived in a duplex, the Presleys downstairs and the Fruchters upstairs.
Rabbi Fruchter spun a fascinating account of hot summer nights when the king of rock and roll would join the family “singing songs softly on the front porch.” Rabbi Fruchter also noted that from time to time, young Elvis would borrow the family’s record player.
Sadly, if there ever was any tape or transcript of my interview, it’s long gone. Rabbi Fruchter was such an excellent storyteller that several of my listeners called me when the show was over. The consistent reaction was about being “fascinated,” with others saying they “got chills” thinking about Elvis and the rabbi harmonizing during what were more innocent times.
Dave Lucas
Albany, N.Y.
I’d like to note an interesting contrast in the December 5 issue of The Jewish Press.
In Rabbi Yehuda Oppenheimer’s Perspective (“Standing at the Crossroads: The Isaac-Covenant Jew in an Age of Rising Hatred”), he writes:
“[Yitzchak Avinu] was not a mayofisnik – a servile flatterer of the gentile overlord. He stood upright.
“And so must we.
“We live in a time when the Jewish people have been granted unprecedented power, wealth, influence, and dignity – in America, in Europe, across the world – and above all, through the miracle of Medinat Yisrael, the first sovereign Jewish state in 2,000 years, all its faults notwithstanding. To behave as if we are still trembling in a Polish shtetl is to betray the very gift Hashem placed in our hands.”
Meanwhile in the column of Rav Dovid Feinstein’s divrei Torah on the parsha (put together by Rabbi Raphael Grunfeld), he writes,
“So what can one do to discourage antisemitism?
“First of all, be respectful of Eisav. Refer to him as ‘my master’ and to yourself as ‘his servant’ (32:4).
“Make it clear that you have no ambitions to take over the countries that host you. Maintain a low profile and don’t display wealth.”
I’m not saying one can’t find a way to see these two perspectives as being harmonious, but they do seem to paint very different pieces of advice for how Jews should relate and interact with the broader society in galus.
Kol hakavod to The Jewish Press for printing such a range of views. And I guess it’s up to each reader to decide which viewpoint is better.
M. Schwartz
Manhattan, N.Y.
The Correct Term Is Not Antisemitism – It’s Jew-Hatred
The Bondi Beach terrorists did not massacre “semites” – they massacred Jews. The Hamas terrorists who invaded on October 7 did not savagely attack Israelis – they raped, pillaged, and killed Jews. During the Holocaust, the Germans’ Final Solution was not aimed at “semites” – it was genocide against Jews. On college campuses, the violence is not against “semites” – it is against Jews.
For over 2,000 years, the world has shown horrific and often barbaric hatred against Jews, and it has exploded again today. During much of that time, Jews adopted a ghetto mentality of trying to keep a low profile and not doing anything to upset the goyim. That tactic never worked before, is not working now, and will not work in the future.
Yet we are still groveling before the goyim, hoping they will not harm us too badly. While they are attacking and killing us around the world, incredibly we are still trying to hammer out a definition of antisemitism. We all know what it is, but we’re still only at the stage of trying to define it.
I don’t know the best way or ways to combat it, but I’m sure of one thing: At least we ourselves have to stop using the term antisemitism (with a small “s”) and start using and promoting the real name for this: Jew-hatred. That’s what it is, has always been, and will always be. We must not try to be so genteel with the goyim in the face of such widespread violence against us. It’s pure Jew-hatred, plain and simple, so let’s all call it that.
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park, N.J.