UK chief rabbi: Coronation is the 'greatest event in decades' - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis discussed the halachic issues and Jewish elements of the coronation of King Charles III.
“In the British mindset, the coronation is the greatest event that has happened in 71 years,” Mirvis told the Post in a Jerusalem hotel on Thursday. “I think if the Messiah comes at the time of the coronation, it will be on the back page,” he said, laughing.
“Nothing is going to get in the way of this, every tiny detail; and we welcome the fact that the inclusion of other faiths in this event is a feature of the coronation. It was not a feature in the previous one – just the church; after all, the essence of the coronation is a religious service in Westminster Abbey.”
“Nothing is going to get in the way of this, every tiny detail; and we welcome the fact that the inclusion of other faiths in this event is a feature of the coronation. It was not a feature in the previous one – just the church; after all, the essence of the coronation is a religious service in Westminster Abbey.”
At the end of the coronation service, there will be a procession out of the abbey, and “at the head of the king and queen there will be eight faith leaders,” Mirvis said. He will be the only Jewish faith leader at this service. He explained that “we will stand in a line, the king will come in his full regalia and in his historic 16th-century crown, which is only worn at coronations, and he will stand in front of us. We will give him a blessing in unionism, a pair of blessings, which is okay, or, shall I say, kosher for all of us.
“He might chat with us and if he does, that would be wonderful, but he might not. There will be an official blessing message, which we will all recite together,” Mirvis said, and added that “the words we are saying are pretty simple, but very powerful.”
“He might chat with us and if he does, that would be wonderful, but he might not. There will be an official blessing message, which we will all recite together,” Mirvis said, and added that “the words we are saying are pretty simple, but very powerful.”
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