Chief Rabbi’s call to communities: Light beacons for Queen
THE CHIEF Rabbi and the Board of Deputies are backing a multi-faith campaign to encourage communities to illuminate the UK during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
To mark Accession Day last Sunday, faith leaders from nine communities joined forces to promote the Platinum Jubilee Beacons project.
Maintaining a long tradition of lighting beacons on significant Royal occasions, at least 1,500 will be lit on 2 June, the first evening of the celebratory weekend.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: “[The beacons will be] a most powerful symbol as we celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 remarkable years on the throne.
“In Jewish tradition, the lighting of a flame accompanies many of our most important religious observances, representing the point at which the material and sacred meet.
“The fragile flame conveys the profound lesson that spirituality cannot manifest in the world if we do not cultivate and protect it.”
As a beacon of light, “often through periods of darkness”, the Queen continued to be “a remarkable figurehead”, he added.
In her message of support, Board president Marie van der Zyl noted that “throughout her remarkable reign, the Queen has encouraged harmony and friendship across the many different communities and denominations of this country. “The simultaneous lighting of the beacons symbolises her wonderful contribution in bringing people together.” Beacon lightings will be organised individually by local communities, councils and charities.
They will be a powerful symbol as we celebrate the 70 years