Why British Jews Love the Royal Family
Image by haaretz
The most important thing about a hereditary monarchy is that the line of hereditary succession should be secured. That is why the news that the Duchess of Cambridge (the future Queen) has given birth to a son has been greeted so enthusiastically here in England and throughout the British Commonwealth. Ignore the protests of republicans: As the Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations showed last year, hereditary monarchism is very much alive and well throughout the land. And there is no section of Her Majesty’s subjects more in tune with this sentiment than the Jews.
Within a few hours of the royal birth, Jewish representative groups were falling over themselves to present their loyal congratulations. We can expect rabbis of various persuasions to refer to this auspicious occasion in their Shabbat sermons. And gifts with a distinctly Jewish flavor will surely follow.
But the Anglo-Jewish infatuation with the British monarchy is of comparatively recent origin. Jews were expelled from England by King Edward I in 1290, and the landmark agreement for the Readmission of the Jews to England (1656) was only effected once Charles I had been beheaded and a republic declared under “Lord Protector” Oliver Cromwell.
It was also thanks to the Hanoverians that the custom arose of having royal sons circumcised by Jewish mohelim. I was circumcised in 1944 by the late Reverend Dr Jacob Snowman; four years later Snowman circumcised Prince Charles. (Whether the new royal prince will be similarly serviced remains to be seen, but is already the subject of much debate.)
For more go to Haaretz
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
