Last week I was accorded a rare honour. I was giving the opening address at the extraordinary dinner of the Community Security Trust and in the afternoon before I delivered it I was told I would need to adjust my text. His Majesty the King had agreed to become patron of CST and I was to announce the news.
Anybody who has ever given speeches will appreciate what a gift it was to be asked to do this. These were lines that could not possibly miss. And of course they did not. The joy in the room was palpable.
This achievement is anybody’s before it is mine. It is Sir Gerald Ronson’s for a start, who has put his incredible intellect, energy and force of personality into building CST into an incredible institution. It is Sir Lloyd Dorfman’s, who has won the respect of the Royal Household and created a precious link between them and the community. And, of course, it is an achievement of the staff and volunteers of CST.
But I also think it should be seen as an achievement of the King’s. He intuited that at this moment the Jewish community needed his solidarity. His agreement was proffered on the day of the ambulance arson attack, at a time when Jews in Britain were reeling. He seems to have understood how shaken we are and how much in need of reassurance.
And this understanding hasn’t come to him in a flash, from reading the morning newspapers. It is the result of years of study and thought and intellectual commitment. He regards understanding our traditions and our experiences, and protecting us as citizens, as being core to his mission as monarch. Which is, if you think about it, quite remarkable given the size of our community.
I am very impressed by it. Yes, absolutely as a Jew, but also as one his British subjects.
As a Jew it clearly has immense value. It is a statement affirming our Britishness and our contribution to Britain made by the very symbol of the country. To CST, which relies a good deal on its links with public bodies, the support of such a prestigious patron has clear practical as well as emotional heft.
What about as a Briton? The King shows that he understands the nature of his position and its role in a modern democracy.
The monarchy is a still point in a raucous fast-changing country. It represents heritage, tradition, stability, identity. Through pageantry and ceremony it unites the nation. The King clearly appreciates the parallels between this and the role of organised religion. It is why he is so comfortable in the company of clerics. He has made good use of the decades he had to wait before ascending to the throne. He understands that in a consumer society much is transitory and much disposable. The monarchy is permanent. So he sees himself as in alliance with all those institutions and people who value continuity.
We Jews are such a people. We are that because of our way of life. And we are that because it is in our political interests. Jews know what is at stake when people talk loosely about the overturn of institutions. Revolutionary overthrow has rarely been our friend. He also sees that the Church of England, of which he is head, is not in competition with other faiths. It is in competition with lack of faith.
Showing respect to other religions and encouraging others to show that respect bolsters the church rather than undermines it.
Because the late Queen Elizabeth II was so beloved, there was much speculation that the monarchy would not survive her. But it may be that her son has an even keener idea of how to preserve the institution he inherited and how to demonstrate its relevance. I think accepting the invitation to be patron of CST demonstrates that.
In every country we have lived in, Jews have always been a small minority. That makes us vulnerable to political fashion and waves of discontent. It’s why we need an organisation such as CST in the first place.
The monarch is saying clearly that our protection is central to his idea of the country he presides over.
God Save the King.
Daniel Finkelstein is associate editor of The Times
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