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We should thank our longest-serving monarch for this nation’s stability

Keith Black pays tribute to HM the Queen on her Platinum Jubilee

June 1, 2022 12:18
GettyImages-140158354
LONDON - FEBRUARY 29: Queen Elizabeth II smiles as she opens the refurbished East Wing of Somerset House, on February 29, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Mulholland - WPA Pool/Getty Images)
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I have distinct recollections of where I was and who I was with during all the previous Jubilees that have taken place in my lifetime — I can measure my life by them. From celebrating with quintessentially British bunting and pouring drinks to mark the Silver Jubilee, to my parents telling my children stories of the Royal Family from their own childhoods, as the Golden Jubilee celebrations took place on the TV behind. For the 2011 Diamond Jubilee we huddled together in an Israeli hotel room, celebrating from afar.

With all this personal history, it feels very humbling to be attending the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee pageant.

I often think about the wisdom our forefathers had in including the prayer to the Royal Family in our services, something that occurs within all of our major streams of Judaism, from Liberal to Orthodox.

In the Chief Rabbi’s prayer for the Royal Family he writes: “May He put a spirit of wisdom and understanding into her heart and into the hearts of all her counsellors, that they may uphold the peace of the realm, advance the welfare of the nation and deal kindly and justly with all the house of Israel.” Throughout Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s reign, she has indeed fulfilled those obligations, blessed as she is with wisdom and compassion. Time and time again she has been the country’s guiding national compass. In a world of deepening secularism and opposition to historical traditions,   the Royal Family is testament to the enduring power of ancient values and British life. This is in large part due to the leadership and stability of Her Majesty as this country’s longest serving monarch.