GREAT BARRINGTON - On Friday, December 7 at 10:45 AM, Knosh & Knowledge hosts author and scholar Roselle Kline Chartock for an interesting, and perhaps unexpected, overview of “The Jewish World of Elvis Presley.”

This free Jewish Federation of the Berkshires program will take place at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire, 270 State Rd, Great Barrington, MA , and will be followed by lunch, available for $11 (RSVP required).

Elvis and Jews – at first glance, notes Roselle Chartock, these two words don’t seem to go together. But, the truth is, Elvis Presley, a poor, fundamentalist Christian boy from the Deep South, an area known historically for its anti-Semitism, developed an affinity to Jews. In her talk, Dr. Chartock will explain some of the reasons for this development, as well as the nature of Presley’s relationships with Jews, a little known aspect of the life of this rock ‘n’ roll icon.

Roselle Kline Chartock is Professor Emerita of Education at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams. She has spoken frequently in the Berkshires and beyond about her most recent book, Windsor Mountain School, A Beloved Berkshire Institution (The History Press, 2014).

For more information, call the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires at (413) 442-4360, ext. 10 or email federation@jewishberkshires.org.

(press release sent to WSBS from the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires for online and on-air use)

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