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As an American rabbi in King Charles’ court, I’m learning to love the king (in addition to the King)
(JTA) — Perhaps the strangest part was sitting through a Sunday service in the 1,000-year-old nave of St. Albans Cathedral (the longest nave in England!) and hearing the Hebrew Bible (specifically I Kings 1:32-40) read aloudt in English. Maybe stranger yet was hearing part of that passage set to the music of 17th-century maestro George Friedrich Handel! These, and many other oddities, were only a fraction of the wonderful and unusual experiences of being an American-born British rabbi during the first coronation this country has seen in 70 years.
As with the funeral last year of the late Queen Elizabeth, the scale of organization and competence required to pull off such an event is astounding. For a country where it often feels that small-scale bureaucracy can get in the way of day-to-day life, the coronation was, by all accounts, seamless. This of course makes it the exception rather than the rule, as coronations past were often marred by logistical issues, bad luck and sometimes straight-up violence.
It was the coronation of Richard I in 1189 that unleashed anti-Jewish massacres and pogroms across the country and led to the York Massacre in 1190, in which over 150 local Jews killed themselves after being trapped in Clifford’s Tower, which was set ablaze by an angry mob. During that year there were attacks in London, Lynn, Bury St. Edmunds, Stamford, Lincoln, Colchester and others. It was exactly 100 years later, in 1290, that Edward I would expel Jews from England altogether. They wouldn’t return (officially) for 400 years — or get an official apology from the church for 800.
This weekend’s festivities, thankfully, were of a very different caliber. Not only were Jewish communities front and center, but Jews, religious and not, were active and welcome participants in the ceremony in Westminster Abbey. Indeed, despite the ceremony taking place on Shabbat, the United Synagogue (a mainstream Orthodox denomination that accounts for 40-45% of British Jewish synagogue membership) was represented by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who, together with other faith leaders, played a role in greeting the king as he left the church. This was especially unusual as it has long been the position of the United Synagogue that their rabbis and members should not go into churches (much less on Shabbat). In many ways, this demonstrates one of the consistent themes of the coronation: the interruption of normal routine and the continued exceptionalism of the royal family.
Rabbi Adam Zagoria-Moffet stands atop the bell tower of St. Albans Cathedral before Rosh Hashanah in 2020. (Talya Baker)
Judaism is agnostic, at best, about kings. Our own monarchy came about because the people insisted on it, but against the will of the prophet Samuel against the desire of God. Once it was established — a process which involved several civil wars, a lot of bloodshed and the degradation of many historical elements of Israelite society — it did, for a brief time, bring some stability to the fragile confederacy of Israelite tribes. But it was really only the half-century golden era under King Solomon that managed this feat. After him, and ever since, the monarchy has been a source of conflict and violence. While we still hope that a righteous heir of the Davidic monarchy will reappear and take their place as king of Israel, we, famously, are not holding our breath.
Our approach to non-Jewish monarchs is even more complex. Whilst King Charles III was being coronated to the words of our holy texts and being anointed in oil (the ceremony for our monarchs) from the Mount of Olives (in our holy land), we were at the same time reciting a litany of prayers, as we do daily, to remind us (in the words of our prayers): “We have no king but You” (Avinu Malkeinu); “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom” (Ashrei); “God is King, God has ruled, God will rule forever (Y’hi Khavod); “God’s kingship is true there is none else” (Aleinu).
These words were chosen by our sages for our prayers in part because they shared the biblical anxiety about monarchs. Halacha, Jewish law, does retain the notion of a king over Israel, but that king is so heavily bound by legislation, it is far from the absolutist monarchies of most of Europe.
However, since 1688 at least, after the brief (and failed) experiment with the notion of divine right of kings, England (and now the United Kingdom) has endorsed the notion of a constitutional monarch — a king or queen who is esteemed, but also bound by the law and by restrictions imposed by the people. In practice, this makes today’s monarchy an awful lot like that of ancient Israel, and very different from historic European monarchies, as well as very different from how Americans and others often see it. After nearly six years living and working on these green isles, I’ve come to appreciate the complexities and absurdities of the British monarchy, and to value the role that the ceremonies play in the collective life of Britons.
Many here are surprised to find that, being a Yankee, I’m not also a republican (an anti-monarchist, in the British context). Indeed, while I have my doubts about the idea of monarchy and while, religiously, there is a strong argument against human authority, the monarchy as it operates in modern Britain is fairly compatible with the idea of kingship as established by halacha — restrained, limited and primarily occupied with being a moral exemplar rather than an authoritarian ruler. Maybe then it shouldn’t be so strange that so much of the ceremonies this weekend were drawn from our texts, and so much of the symbolism referential to our tradition. We can be grateful that King Charles’s coronation, the first in a generation, went off without a hitch and without bloodshed, and with the support and involvement of a diverse representation of Britain’s peoples and faiths.
To the outside, this weekend has likely appeared to be just a lot of pomp and pageantry. No doubt, it is often Americans who are camping out on the Mall in see-through tents or wearing the royal family’s faces as masks in coronation parties — but this American, after more than half a decade here in Britain, can appreciate the depth of the monarchy in ways I couldn’t before. I see both its deep significance and history, its connection to our own tradition (sometimes through appropriation), and its negatives. As a rabbi and a Jew, I will always be of the opinion that there is only one Sovereign who truly rules, but there is something to be said for having a king as well as a King.
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Iran Warns Against Any US Strike as Judiciary Hints at Unrest-Linked Executions
FILE PHOTO: Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency’s value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Photo: Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/ File Photo
Iran‘s president warned on Sunday that any US strike would trigger a “harsh response” from Tehran after an Iranian official in the region said at least 5,000 people — including about 500 security personnel — had been killed in nationwide protests.
Iran‘s protests, sparked last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar over economic grievances, swiftly turned political and spread nationwide, drawing participants from across generations and income groups – shopkeepers, students, men and women, the poor and the well‑off – calling for the end of clerical rule.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if protesters continued to be killed on the streets or were executed. He said in an interview with Politico on Saturday: “it’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.”
Iran indicated on Sunday it might go ahead with executions of people detained during the unrest, and with its clerical rulers facing mounting international pressure over the bloodiest unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution, is seeking to deter Trump from stepping in.
Iran‘s President Masoud Pezeshkian on X warned that Tehran’s response “to any unjust aggression will be harsh and regrettable,” adding that any attack on the country’s supreme leader is “tantamount to an all-out war against the nation.”
RIGHTS GROUP REPORTS 24,000 ARRESTS
Protests dwindled last week following a violent crackdown.
US-based rights group HRANA said on Saturday the death toll had reached 3,308, with another 4,382 cases under review. It said it had confirmed more than 24,000 arrests.
On Friday, Trump thanked Tehran’s leaders in a social media post, saying they had called off scheduled executions of 800 people. He has moved US military assets into the region but has not specified what he might do.
A day later, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei branded Trump a “criminal,” acknowledging “several thousand deaths” that he blamed on “terrorists and rioters” linked to the US and Israel.
Iran‘s judiciary indicated that executions may go ahead.
“A series of actions have been identified as Mohareb, which is among the most severe Islamic punishments,” Iranian judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told a press conference on Sunday.
Mohareb, an Islamic legal term meaning to wage war against God, is punishable by death under Iranian law.
The Iranian official told Reuters that the verified death toll was unlikely to “increase sharply,” adding “Israel and armed groups abroad” had supported and equipped those taking to the streets.
The clerical establishment regularly blames unrest on foreign enemies, including the US and Israel, an arch foe of the Islamic Republic which launched military strikes in June.
Internet blackouts were partly lifted for a few hours on Saturday but internet monitoring group NetBlocks said they later resumed.
One resident in Tehran said that last week he had witnessed riot police directly shooting at a group of protesters, who were mostly young men and women. Videos circulating on social media, some of which have been verified by Reuters, have shown security forces crushing demonstrations across the country.
HIGHEST DEATH TOLL IN KURDISH AREAS
The Iranian official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, also said some of the heaviest clashes and highest number of deaths were in the Iranian Kurdish areas in the country’s northwest.
Kurdish separatists have been active there and flare-ups have been among the most violent in past periods of unrest.
Three sources told Reuters on January 14 that armed Kurdish separatist groups sought to cross the border into Iran from Iraq in a sign of foreign entities potentially seeking to take advantage of instability.
Faizan Ali, a 40-year-old medical doctor from Lahore, said he had to cut short his trip to Iran to visit his Iranian wife in the central city of Isfahan as “there was no internet or communication with my family in Pakistan.”
“I saw a violent mob burning buildings, banks and cars. I also witnessed an individual stab a passer-by,” he told Reuters upon his arrival back in Lahore.
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Pentagon Readies 1,500 Troops for Potential Minnesota Deployment, US Officials Say
People protest against ICE, after a US immigration agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in her car in Minneapolis, in New York City, January 7. Photo: REUTERS/Angelina Katsanis
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government’s deportation drive, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday.
The US Army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the state escalates, the officials said, though it is not clear whether any of them will be sent.
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to use the Insurrection Act to deploy military forces if officials in the state do not stop protesters from targeting immigration officials after a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Increasingly tense confrontations between residents and federal officers have erupted in Minneapolis since Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was fatally shot behind the wheel of her car by ICE officer Jonathan Ross on January 7.
Mayor Jacob Frey said on Sunday that any military deployment would exacerbate tensions in Minnesota’s largest city, where the Trump administration has already sent 3,000 immigration and border patrol officers to deal with largely peaceful protests.
“That would be a shocking step,” Frey said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “We don’t need more federal agents to keep people safe. We are safe.”
Clashes in the city intensified after the federal ICE surge and the killing of Good. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Frey should set up “a peaceful protest zone” for demonstrators.
Trump has repeatedly invoked a scandal around the theft of federal funds intended for social-welfare programs in Minnesota as a rationale for sending in immigration agents. The president and administration officials have singled out the state’s community of Somali immigrants.
“I think what he’d be doing is just putting another match on the fire,” US Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, told ABC’s “This Week” when asked about the possible military deployment.
THREAT OF TROOPS FOLLOWS SURGE OF IMMIGRATION AGENTS
If US troops are deployed, it is unclear whether the Trump administration would invoke the Insurrection Act, which gives the president the power to deploy the military or federalize National Guard troops to quell domestic uprisings.
Even without invoking the act, a president can deploy active-duty forces for certain domestic purposes such as protecting federal property, which Trump cited as a justification for sending Marines to Los Angeles last year.
In addition to the active-duty forces, the Pentagon could also attempt to deploy newly created National Guard rapid-response forces for civil disturbances.
“The Department of War is always prepared to execute the orders of the commander in chief if called upon,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, using the Trump administration’s preferred name for the Department of Defense.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order, which was first reported by ABC News.
The soldiers subject to deployment specialize in cold-weather operations and are assigned to two US Army infantry battalions under the 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska, the officials said.
Trump, a Republican, sent the surge of federal agents from ICE and Border Patrol to Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul early last week, as part of a wave of interventions across the US, mostly to cities run by Democratic politicians.
He has said troop deployments in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Memphis and Portland, Oregon, are necessary to fight crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters. But this month he said he was removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, where the deployments have faced legal setbacks and challenges.
Local leaders have accused the president of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence to justify sending in troops.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, against whom the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation, has mobilized the state’s National Guard to support local law enforcement and the rights of peaceful demonstrators, the state Department of Public Safety posted on X on Saturday.
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New Evidence in Leaked Classified Documents Case Links Netanyahu Advisor
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – During an appeal hearing at the District Court over the decision not to extend restrictions in the classified documents case, police revealed new correspondence between Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein.
The messages suggest that Feldstein, an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was aware of the secret document and its potential leak.
Feldstein was also summoned for further questioning at Lahav 433 amid suspicions of obstruction during a late-night meeting in a parking lot.
The correspondence, dated October 13, 2024, was exchanged on the encrypted messaging app Signal. Feldstein reportedly wrote to Urich that he was considering taking advantage of a visiting Bild reporter to discuss the document. Urich responded: “Let Hasid handle it, why waste your time on it,” referring to the reporter as a “nuisance.”
Police stated that the messages contradict Urich’s previous claims that he had never seen or heard of the secret document, showing that he was not only aware of it but also discussed its publication with Feldstein.
Last Thursday, the court rejected a request to remove Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office and denied lifting restrictions on Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman and Omer Mansour. Judge Menachem Mizrahi wrote that the requests lacked “evidentiary, substantive, proportionate, or purposeful justification,” and saw no reason to extend prohibitions on contact or work for the respondents.
The new revelations are likely to intensify scrutiny of the roles of senior aides in the handling of classified material within the Prime Minister’s Office.