opinion
What Queen Elizabeth Meant to
a British Jew Like Me
BY JEREMY HAVARDI
T 18
SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Queen Elizabeth II toasts with Israeli President Ezer Weizman.

and harmful. It was that facet of her character,
her ability to show coolness and fortitude despite
crisis and sadness, that endeared her to millions
of her countrymen and women.

In her own life, those sad episodes included the
breakdown of her children’s marriages, the death
of Princess Diana, the fallout caused by the disil-
lusionment of Prince Harry and his wife with the
monarchy, and, above all, the loss of her beloved
husband, Prince Philip. Yet her belief in service
and her promise to the nation meant that she
never contemplated stepping aside. She simply
got on with her job, exuding a steely strength and
determination that won her so many admirers.

The queen was also an internationally renowned
fi gure. It is easy to forget that she visited some 117
countries as monarch, meeting countless leaders,
statesmen and diplomats. She acted as head
of state to 15 British prime ministers and met no
fewer than 13 American presidents. Indeed, her
reign lasted more than one-quarter of the entire
history of the United States.

She was the fi rst British monarch to travel to a
communist country when she toured Yugoslavia
in 1972. She was a symbol of the reconciliation
with Japan, receiving the emperor in the United
Kingdom, while her visits to China and Russia in
the 1980s and 1990s were equally signifi cant.

She also refl ected a changed mood when she
went to the Republic of Ireland in 2011, something
that would have been unthinkable decades ear-
lier. She was undoubtedly the most experienced
diplomat of her age and a fi gure to whom many
would turn for wise counsel.

She was also a friend of the Jewish commu-
nity in the U.K. She met many faith leaders and
gained the praise of fi gures such as the late Rabbi
Lord Jonathan Sacks, who described her and the
royal family as “one of the great unifying forces
in Britain, a unity we need all the more, the more
diverse religiously and culturally we become.”
She hosted Israeli leaders in the U.K., including
President Ephraim Katzir in 1976, and gave an
honorary knighthood to Shimon Peres in 2008.

In 2000, she also inaugurated Britain’s fi rst per-
manent memorial to the Holocaust and served as
patron of the UK Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
for a decade. It is true that she did not visit Israel
as a monarch despite a number of entreaties from
the country’s leaders. But this did not refl ect any
personal malice or bigotry and instead resulted
from longstanding Foreign Offi ce policy to avoid
antagonizing Britain’s Arab allies. Accordingly, the
queen’s death has seen a genuine and palpable
outpouring of grief from Jewish communal lead-
ers of every denomination. British Jews are feel-
ing the loss of this remarkable monarch as much
as their gentile counterparts.

For now, Britain has a king who will provide the
nation and commonwealth with a sense of much-
needed continuity. But Queen Elizabeth II was a
truly unique fi gure whose guiding presence sym-
bolized unity, constancy and, above all, human
decency. We will not see the likes of her again. JE
Jeremy Havardi is a journalist, historian and
political activist and the director of the Bureau of
International Aff airs of B’nai B’rith UK.

Israel Government Press Offi ce
he death of Queen Elizabeth II after 70 years
on the throne is a devastating loss for Britain,
the Commonwealth and the free world. It is hard
to overstate the sense of grief that will be felt
at her passing, including from within the Anglo-
Jewish community.

I was brought up in a typical liberal Jewish fam-
ily that showed a healthy respect for the queen,
and the royal family more widely. I recall marching
down the Mall in London for the 60th anniversary
of VE Day and catching a sight of our monarch
on the steps of Buckingham Palace. Like other
British Jews, I also remember hearing the prayer
for the royal family which was, and is, a feature of
every Shabbat service.

For Anglo-Jewry, the queen was a rock and
mainstay of her nation, a constant, familiar and
reassuring presence amid the turbulence of both
domestic and international crises. Indeed, she
became such a fi xture in British life that she cre-
ated the illusion that she would always carry on
as head of state. Of course, no one is immortal.

But the queen etched herself so deeply into her
country’s story that she became emblematic of its
very character, the unspoken essence of modern
Britain. She was truly the matriarch of the nation.

The queen was unlike political heads of state.

She was not a polarizing fi gure because, being
unelected, she was in no way beholden to vested
interests or parties. Instead, she united her nation
by becoming a symbol of its most enduring and
cherished values. What she brought to her role
was an old-fashioned sense of duty and loyalty,
refl ecting the vow that she made in 1947 to live
a life of service, no matter how long or short it
lasted. Her values were those of an older Britain,
a nation framed by a Christian ethos in which self
mattered less than duty and obligation trumped
personal ambition.

Those values had resonance for British Jews
too, given that their own faith encompassed
notions of religious duty and communal service.

They recognized that the queen’s tireless devo-
tion to her nation was an example of tikkun olam
at its fi nest. The queen never compromised her
fi delity to those values and conducted herself
at all times with dignity, decency and propriety.

If only one could say the same about today’s
leaders. Above all, she was a steadfast symbol of
old-fashioned calm and stoicism in an age when
the stiff upper lip was being assailed as quaint



nation / world
Russia’s Chabad Rabbis Call to ‘End the Suff ering’
For the fi rst time since Russia invaded Ukraine six months ago, dozens of Russian
rabbis from that country convened for an emergency meeting that ended with a
politically fraught plea for an end to the bloodshed, JTA reported.

At a two-day gathering in Moscow that ended on Sept. 6, more than 75 Chabad-
affi liated rabbis from across Russia issued a statement that read: “We pray that no
more blood be spilled, and call upon people of good conscience everywhere to
help aid those in need, including refugees, and end the suff ering.”
Th e statement does not use the words “war” or “invasion,” which can carry
legal risk in Russia when applied to the deadly off ensive that Russian President
Vladimir Putin initiated in February, nor does it mention Ukraine explicitly. But
it can easily be construed as disapproval of the war at a time when other state-rec-
ognized clergy, including in the Russian Orthodox Church, have backed it.

Th e church’s head, Patriarch Kirill, has justifi ed the invasion of Ukraine on
spiritual and ideological grounds.

Goyim Defense League Founder Arrested in Poland Outside Auschwitz
Th e founder of the American extremist group Goyim Defense League said he was
arrested in Poland aft er demonstrating in front of the Auschwitz-Birkenau former
extermination and concentration camp, J. Th e Jewish News of California reported.

Jon Minadeo Jr. posted about his arrest on Gab, the social media platform
favored by right-wing extremists barred from other platforms, on Sept. 4. He said
he was charged with “(((Hate Speech))) regarding Aushwitz,” using a parenthet-
ical notation adopted by neo-Nazis to identify Jews online and misspelling the
Nazi concentration camp.

Th e Polish national police did not immediately respond to a request for com-
ment. But the Polish penal code includes penalties for anyone who “propagates
a fascist or another totalitarian state or calls for hatred against national, ethnic,
racial or religious diff erences.”
Wish Your Friends & Family
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ADL to Review Education Materials After Fox News Calls it ‘Far-Left’
Th e Anti-Defamation League says it will “launch a thorough review” of its edu-
cational content to address materials “misaligned with” the organization’s values
aft er Fox News published a story accusing the anti-hate group of including “con-
cepts from critical race theory” and “far-left ideas,” JTA reported.

Th e ADL’s statement, released in response to a Fox News story published on
Sept. 7, did not specify which of its freely available education materials were cause
for review. But the conservative news network accused the nonpartisan group,
which off ers anti-bias training to schools, of participating in a broader left ist
indoctrination of schoolchildren.

In a statement, an ADL spokesperson said that Fox’s story “raised important
issues” and said the group “plans to undertake a comprehensive, in-depth review
of all of our education programs.”’
“However, we are not wavering from our long-standing support for margin-
alized communities, such as the rights and safety of transgender youth,” the
spokesperson said.

Tel Aviv Hosts Weeklong Party to Celebrate Brazil’s 200th
Independence Day
Brazilians threw a party in Israel to celebrate the 200th anniversary of their indepen-
dence, as well as the strong cultural ties between the two countries, JTA reported.

Th e event, called Casa Brasil, began on Sept. 4 and continued through Sept. 9,
and featured lectures, cultural presentations, a fashion show, a food festival and
more. It was held at Hangar 11, a large event venue at Tel Aviv’s port, which was
decked out in green and yellow, the colors of Brazil’s fl ag.

“Our two peoples have nurtured a close relationship over several areas, includ-
ing in trade, education, politics, culture, defense, agriculture and innovation,”
Brazil’s ambassador to Israel, Gerson Menandro, said at a gala event.

Brazilian diplomat Oswaldo Aranha presided over the United Nations General
Assembly that voted in favor of the resolution that partitioned the British
Mandate of Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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