Life
As an Orthodox Jew I'll be cheering the King, but I can’t watch on TV
What a shame I won’t be able to watch the coronation as it happens from the comfort of the sofa
May 5, 2023 09:11
What a shame I won’t be able to watch the coronation as it happens from the comfort of the sofa
May 5, 2023 09:11Like so many others around the UK, I will be hosting my family for a coronation lunch on May 6. I’ve purchased the Union Jack serviettes, coronation chicken is on the menu, and I might even attempt red, white and blue mini pavlovas for dessert.
But as keen as we are to get into the spirit of all the pomp and circumstance, the one thing we definitely won’t be doing is watching the service.
Because, of course, May 6 is a Saturday, the coronation chicken is our Shabbat lunch and TV is strictly off limits.
King Charles
When the first tentative news snippets about the Carolean coronation began to filter through last autumn, and the possibility of a Saturday ceremony was mooted, we Orthodox Jews were optimistic that it wouldn’t pan out that way.
The new King had notably announced his intention to be “Defender of Faith” rather than “Defender of the Faith”. He had even brought forward a planned meeting with faith leaders on the eve of his mother’s funeral in order to allow the Chief Rabbi to attend before the start of Shabbat.
While appreciating the complexity of the arrangements that needed to be made, we were hopeful that a Saturday ceremony could be avoided, and that the Sabbath-observant among us would be able to sit in front of our tellies waving Union Jacks just like the rest of our compatriots.
Alas it was not to be. I was brought up on stories of how my Holocaust-survivor grandmother took my mother, aged just one, in her Silver Cross pram, to watch the Queen’s coronation (held on a Tuesday) in 1953, and how those fortunate enough to own televisions flung open their doors to the neighbours for communal viewings.
Queen Camilla (Photo: Getty Images)
