Baruch Dayan Haemet

Today’s announcement of the loss of Her Majesty the Queen has sent ripples of shock, sadness, and grief throughout the country and around the world.
We both mourn her loss yet treasure and celebrate her life.  She has been “the queen” throughout the lives of most of our nation. Her total dedication and self-sacrifice to a higher cause – the nation- serves as an example to all of us of how life can and should be lived for something greater than just self.

King Solomon wrote in Kohelet regarding visiting a house of mourning that “a living one should take it to heart”.    The Targum (Ancient Aramaic interpretive translation) notes

“by going into the house of mourning the righteous man sits down and takes to heart the words of death; and if there be any evil in his hand, he will leave it and return in repentance before the Lord of the world.”

How much more so is this the case upon the loss of our Monarch and head of state. The Queen has been the beating heart of our nation feeling its ups as well as the downs. There is so much we can “take to heart” from the life of the Queen and apply it to our own lives.  I am confident that in the coming days and weeks we will have time to absorb the enormity of her contribution to British and Commonwealth life and appreciate her impact.

Her stoicism, her deep belief in God and sense of duty clearly mark her out as one of the great figures of the twentieth and twenty-first century.

The Talmud in Megillah 31a makes a profound statement about the nature of Hashem – “In the place of The Holy One Blessed Be He’s Greatness their You find His Humility”.
In other words because Hashem is infinite without any limitations He is as much “at home” on earth and within the mundane as He is in heaven or the spiritual realms.
Hashem so to speak “lowers” Himself to relate to creation and His creatures despite His lofty exaltedness.  As I mentioned in last week’s article, during this month of Elul the King “leaves the Palace to seek out his people in the field”.

Usually we associate greatness with aloofness and especially when we think of the concept of royalty. Part of our fascination with the royal family is its mystique. And for royalty to retain its majesty on one level it must transcend our ordinary existence. Yet at the same time the Queen was truly great because she was able to also relate to the ordinary person with genuine empathy, love and compassion.

We are fast approaching Rosh Hashana which is the day we coronate God as King over His creations. We do this through the sounding of the shofar which was used to crown Israel’s kings in ancient times.  Rosh Hashana is the anniversary of creation and on this day, we reassess our relationship with our Creator. Through the shofar we rededicate ourselves to our true mission to be Divine ambassadors and to live our lives aligned with true values as expressed in our Torah.

Like our Queen who lived her life with unwavering dedication to her Godly mission , it is my fervent hope and Teffilah that we too enter Rosh Hashana ready and prepared to recommit ourselves to God.

May The Queens memory be for a blessing for our nation at this difficult time.

Shabbat Shalom