For many years, genealogists have asserted that Gladys Presley, mother of the “king of rock-and-roll,” had Jewish ancestors, and that she—and therefore her son as well—may even have been a Jew by halakhic standards. Archivists have recently opened a crate containing the headstone of Gladys’s original grave, which has a cross engraved in upper right corner and a star of David on the upper left. Dan Fellner writes:

“There was a lot of mystery surrounding it,” said Angie Marchese, Graceland’s vice-president of archives and exhibits, and the one who came up with the idea of unveiling Gladys’s headstone on the 60th anniversary of her death, partly to dispel doubts about Elvis’s Jewish lineage.

Marchese says Elvis’s maternal great-great-grandmother was a Jewish woman named Nancy Burdine. Little is known about Burdine, but it’s believed her family immigrated to America from what is now Lithuania around the time of the American Revolution. According to Ancestry.com, 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, Mississippi.

There is evidence that Elvis’s Jewish lineage meant more to him than just a symbol on a headstone. He gave generously over the years to a variety of Jewish organizations, including the Memphis Jewish Community Center, a donation honored with a plaque that hangs in Graceland today. . . . During the final years of his life, Elvis was frequently photographed wearing necklaces with the Star of David and the Hebrew word ḥai, which means life. . . . Never one to be accused of subtlety, Elvis had the necklace designed with seventeen diamonds.

Between December 27 and January 6, terrorists in Gaza fired rockets at Israel almost every night. On Monday, one rocket struck a home in the much-bombarded town of Sderot, although no one was injured. The rocket fire had largely halted last spring, and for some time barrages were often the result of Israeli forces closing in a Hamas unit or munitions depot. But the truth—which gives credence to Ran Baratz’s argument in his January essay that the IDF is struggling to accomplish its mission—is that Hamas has been able to rebuild. Yoni Ben Menachem writes that the jihadist group has been “producing hundreds of new rockets using lathes smuggled into tunnels that remain operational in Gaza.” Moreover, it has been replenishing its ranks:

According to Israeli security officials, Hamas has recruited approximately 4,000 new fighters over the past month. This rapid expansion bolsters its fighting capabilities and complicates Israel’s efforts to apply military pressure on Hamas to expedite a hostage deal. Hamas’s military recovery has allowed it to prolong its war of attrition against the IDF and adopt tougher stances in hostage negotiations. The funds for this recruitment effort are reportedly from the sale of humanitarian-aid packages, which Hamas forcibly seizes and resells in Gaza’s markets.

In fact, Ben Menachem writes, Hamas’s rocket fire is part of the same strategy:

By firing rockets, Hamas seeks to demonstrate its resilience and operational capability despite the IDF’s prolonged offensive. This message is aimed at both Gaza’s residents and the Israeli public, underscoring that Hamas remains a significant force even after enduring heavy losses [and] that Israel cannot easily occupy this region, currently a focal point of IDF operations.