arts & life

mu s i c

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Elvis
Lives

Deborah Fineblum Schabb | JNS.org

PHOTO BY DEBORAH FINEBLUM SCHABB

PHOTO BY DEBORAH FINEBLUM SCHABB

The King would have
turned 81 on Jan. 8.
We celebrate with
a look at how he
lives on at an Israeli
restaurant and
gas station.

T

o appreciate how much
Israelis love Elvis Presley,
you just have to hear three
generations of the Mizrachi family
of Rehovot crooning, “Wise men
say only fools rush in … but I
can’t help falling in love with you.”
The Mizrachis — mom Aliza,
sons Asaf and Yehoram, and
granddaughter Kahila — had just
downed some American-style
burgers at the Elvis Inn, a restau-
rant, convenience store and gas
station that proudly claims to be
the only Israeli institution devoted
to the King. And they were busy
inspecting the impressive Elvis
memorabilia and chotchke collec-
tion on the premises.
Drivers passing through this
corner of the hills surrounding
Jerusalem often do a double-take
from the car window when they
spot not one, but two way-more-
than-life-sized statues of Elvis.
Unless, of course, they’re among
those who, like the Mizrachis,
make a special pilgrimage to the
Elvis Inn, located in the small hill-
side town of Neve Ilan.
Where else can Israelis hear
all-Elvis, all-the-time piped into
a 1950s-style diner while they
feast on burgers and fries? Where
else can they purchase an Elvis
mini-alarm clock, a platter-sized
“Elvis in Jerusalem” plate or a
postcard with Elvis wearing tefil-
lin in front of the Western Wall?
(The latter souvenir comes thanks
to Photoshop, since The King was
never in Israel — the closest he

got was Germany, and there is no
evidence that he ever wore tefil-
lin.) Better yet, buy a cup of coffee
for 15 shekels ($3.88) and you
get the ceramic Elvis mug to take
home as a souvenir.
But nothing of this Elvis sanctu-
ary was in the picture when Uri
Yoeli was a 12-year-old growing
up in Jerusalem, the seventh
generation of his family to do so.
The year was 1958 and the Israeli
pre-teen had a girlfriend who was
a hardcore fan.
“She gave me a picture of a man
and said it was someone named
Elvis,” he recalls. “The next week
she gave me a small record —
‘One Night with You.’” Back then,
his family owned one of just a
handful of gramophones in all of
Jerusalem, and being willing to
repeatedly play the Elvis record
instantly made Yoeli one of the
most popular kids in the neigh-
borhood.
“I didn’t understand one word
of English but I knew this was
great music,” he says nearly six
decades later. So began a lifelong
devotion to the King, punctuated
with trips to Graceland (Elvis’
Memphis shrine) and an impres-
sive collection of Elvis memora-
bilia, much of it now on display
at Israel’s Elvis Inn. Even during
his years of Israel Defense Forces
service, Yoeli continued his Elvis
fascination, slowly buying what-
ever posters and records he could
get his hands on. In 1974, when
he had the chance to open a gas

station in Neve Ilan, he put a few
of the Elvis pictures on the wall
behind the cash register.
“That’s when I saw people’s
reaction: ‘Wow, Elvis!’” he says.
Thus, the Elvis Inn was born.
Over the years, the venue has
grown, adding to the two over-
sized statues — the brass one is
a towering 16 feet high — and
attracting not only Israelis, but
plenty of Americans on vacation
looking for some old-fashioned
home cooking. (Note: Any Elvis
fans who keep kosher will have to
pass on the food at the inn.)
Visitors can try to stump Yoeli
on the details of Elvis’ bio, but be
warned that he’s something of a
maven on the subject and knows
many of his lyrics by heart. His
personal favorite? “It’s Now or
Never.”
Yoeli’s son Amir has similar
lyrical mastery of Elvis. For the
last six years, the younger Yoeli
has run the second Elvis Inn
location, in Georgia — not the
Georgia with the annual Elvis
festival, but the one in the former
Soviet Union.
“They love Elvis there, too,” says
the elder Yoeli.
When it comes to Elvis’ sad
ending — he died of an apparent
overdose in 1977 — Yoeli believes
the King would be alive today,
turning 81, “if someone had been
close to him and helped him.”
Yoeli was one Elvis fan who was
not surprised to learn that Elvis
had a Jewish great-grandmother

Presley in Jailhouse Rock

(though some say great-great
grandmother). This makes Elvis
“grandmothered” in by Jewish
law, as these ancestors were on the
matrilineal side of the family.
“I always felt Elvis had a Jewish
soul,” Yoeli says. Indeed, two
books on the subject, Elvis and
Gladys by Elaine Dundy, and
Schmelvis by Jonathan Goldstein
and Max Wallace, trace signs of
Elvis’ Jewish identity, including
wearing necklaces with a chai
(Hebrew for life) symbol and Star
of David, as well as his generosity
to several Jewish charities over the
years.
Long-time Elvis Inn customer
(15 years and counting) Chaim
Yoni of Caesarea says he keeps
coming back for the atmosphere.
“It’s the old music we grew up
with,” says the 60-year-old native
Israeli and high-tech professional.
“Elvis was a symbol to us here, an
American icon like McDonald’s
and Coca-Cola, a sign of the
American dream.”
“It’s not me but the fans who’ve
made this place what it is today,”
says Yoeli, adding with pride that
his establishment is “the only
place in Israel where people get up
and dance to rock-and-roll at 9 in
the morning.”
Yet of all the customers Yoeli
has greeted over the years, one
special guest has yet to come
through the door: Elvis’ only child,
Lisa Marie Presley.
“No, she hasn’t been here,” he
says, then adds with a grin, “At

TOP LEFT: Uri Yoeli (left) at the Elvis Inn, his restaurant/convenience store/gas station in Neve Ilan, Israel.
BOTTOM LEFT: Elvis-themed bottles of wine on sale at the Elvis Inn.

January 7 • 2016

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