Elvis Presley would have turned 75 today, and people are still asking if he was Jewish. Well, perhaps he was, at least according to Jewish law, if not in his own mind.
According to some Elvis historians, his mother’s maternal grandmother was Jewish – a woman named Nancy (others say, Martha) Tackett. Of course, Elvis never thought of himself as Jewish. At least there is no evidence that he did.
So can someone be Jewish even if they don’t think of themselves as such?

From the standpoint of halakha (Jewish law) the answer is by all means. In fact, according to the Talmud, one remains Jewish even if they choose to convert to another tradition. Jewishness is a forever kind of thing.
Of course the implications of that law are potentially two-fold: on the one hand, nothing a person does can dissolve there connection to the Jewish people. Once you are in, you are in forever. On the other hand, it suggests that Jewishness can operate independently of any ideology or practice, in which case one might be considered a member of the Jewish people even if they don’t meet the test according to how some Jews interpret Jewish law.
Elvis’ Jewishness, like his music, represents a fluid blending of cultures and communities. I can’t help but wonder how good it might be for Jews and Judaism if we were as good at applying that process to faith and community as Elvis was to music…