A birthday gift fit for the Queen
IT HAS LONG been customary to present your hosts with a gift.
So when Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and his wife Valerie stayed overnight at Windsor Castle on Monday as guests of the Queen, they arrived at the royal residence with a unique present.
Rabbi Mirvis presented Her Majesty with a special artistic version of the prayer for the royal family in English ahead of her 90th birthday
The prayer, which is read out in synagogues every Shabbat morning, was written on watercolour paper and mounted in a gold frame.
The one-off piece was created by artist Myra Levy, who was commissioned by the Chief Rabbi because of her style of ketubah design. The framing was completed by David Smith of Memories in Hendon, north-west London.
Grandmother Mrs Levy, a member of Edgware’s Adath Yistroel Congregation, said: “I drew the border design by hand and then cut it out with a tiny knife. They asked me to do it in gold — I suppose they thought it would be more regal.
“It was quite daunting. I normally write in Hebrew, so I wrote out the prayer a couple of times using a calligraphy pen before I was happy with it.”
In a letter to the Queen which accompanied the gift, Rabbi Mirvis wrote: “When the country has celebrated moments of the greatest national joy and when we have struggled together in times of the greatest desolation, you have been generous in your wisdom and unwavering in your fortitude.
“Since Jews resettled in Great Britain some 360 years ago, we have relentlessly pursuedthegreatBritishdream,toprosper in a society which sees the humanity in all people and feel a sharp sense of responsibility to one and all.”
Rabbi Mirvis and his wife took part in the “dine and sleep” event at Windsor alongside a small number of other guests. They were joined at dinner by their friends the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Mrs Mirvis took along a batch of her home-made Florentines for the occasion.
Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate museums, the author Dr Simon Sebag-Montefiore and Mark Getty, cofounder of Getty Images, also attended.
Ahead of the sleep-over, caterer Arieh Wagner was granted special permission to kosher one of the royal kitchens to make the Chief Rabbi’s dinner and breakfast.
A source close to the royal family said: “The Queen is always mindful of the comfort of her guests, and this extends to any particular dietary requirements they may have, or customs that they follow. This includes serving kosher food. This is really a matter of politeness.”
Rabbi Mirvis said: “The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were very warm and gracious hosts. Their understanding of and fondness for Jewish communities both in the UK and right across the Commonwealth was evident. That fondness is very much reciprocated by so many in our community and that will be clear when the national celebrations of the Queen’s 90th birthday begin.”
A Windsor Castle kitchen was koshered for the event