I’ve always thought challah was food fit for a king, but in London last week, that statement was quite literally true.
Last Thursday, King Charles III visited Golders Green to check in on the local Jewish community and the two individuals injured during an antisemitic stabbing attack in late April, Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 74.
As part of his visit, he went to Grodz, a kosher London bakery founded by Lithuanian Jewish immigrants all the way back in 1888. He met the owner of the Golders Green location and chatted with patrons at the store. Then he was handed a beautiful loaf of challah by a group of kids from the local Jewish school. He graciously thanked the children and then handed the challah to his royal guard.
Imagine being tasked with the safekeeping of the king’s challah! What an honor. Now the only question we have is: How does the king partake in challah? Does he have it cut into prim slices or does he tear into it the traditional way? Does he like to make French toast the next day? Will he share a piece with the challah’s guard?
King Charles wasn’t just treated to a delicious Jewish baked good, though; he had a lot of interesting conversations with the local community, including Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, volunteers, local schoolchildren, parents, and other passerbys, smiling at them, shaking their hands and likely giving them all a great story that they will share in perpetuity of that time they met the king.
In a particularly menschy move, he told a local man who turned 100 that same day that he hopes “they give you a good celebration, and I hope you get a card from me,” according to BBC.
At the local Jewish Care charity centre, Charles III met with Rand, Shine and Shine’s sister, Doreen.
“He was very concerned. He didn’t let go of my hand, I mean, it was amazing, he is the king, but I felt a genuine warmth and concern,” Shine said of the encounter. He also talked to volunteers at the Hatzola service, the Jewish volunteer ambulance service, who had four of their vehicles set on fire this March.
While introducing new legislation the day before, King Charles III said in his King’s Speech that the UK and his government intend to take “urgent action to tackle antisemitism and ensure all communities feel safe.” His son, Prince Harry, also spoke out against antisemitism last Thursday, saying that “Jewish communities — families, children, ordinary people — are being made to feel unsafe in the very places they call home. That should alarm us, but also unite us.”
And did you know that there is a special blessing one says over the king? A volunteer for the Jewish neighborhood watch service, the Shomrim, recited it to the monarch. The She’chalak (who has shared, or who has given) is recited in Hebrew: “Baruch Ata Adonai, Shechalak MiKvodo lebashar ve’dam,” and translates into: “Blessed are You Hashem, who gave from His honor to flesh and blood.”
Here’s hoping someone helped him say HaMotzi before he tucked into that scrumptious challah!
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