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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.


The post As an American rabbi in King Charles’ court, I’m learning to love the king (in addition to the King) appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Federal budget should include funds to combat hate, protect communities, groups argue

Three weeks after Ottawa unveiled new measures and legislation to combat hate, Jewish groups want Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to put its money where its mouth is.

Leading up to the Nov. 4 federal budget, B’nai Brith Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) are seeking action on community safety—but at opposite ends of the security pipeline.

B’nai Brith made recommendations to proactively combat antisemitism in its July submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) while calling on the federal government to use the Budget Implementation Act (BIA) to eliminate a loophole that allowed listed terrorist entity Samidoun to continue operating as a non-profit corporation

The brief called for investments to counter violent extremism with more funding for national security agencies; requiring all federal grant recipients to comply with Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy (which references the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance antisemitism definition); enhancing young Canadians’ understanding of contemporary antisemitism; and making existing antisemitism training for federal public servants mandatory. 

In its December 2024 report, FINA endorsed reviewing all grant programs to ensure only projects aligning with Canada’s Anti-Racism strategy receive federal funding. (That report also recommended continued financing and increasing contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA].)

Tying grants to anti-racism

Conditioning grant eligibility isn’t new; the Canada Summer Jobs Program already excludes companies and activities that discriminate in any way, advocate intolerance or discrimination, or actively work to undermine access to sexual health services.

B’nai Brith Canada’s research and advocacy director, Richard Robertson, told The CJN that his organization worked with the government and others following the Laith Marouf scandal, which saw the Department of Canadian Heritage fund a known anti-Israel activist and antisemite to offer anti-racism training to media outlets in Canada. That led to a declaration/attestation for Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program grants.

“We’d like to see that replicated across all government agencies involved in grant programs,” said Robertson, “so that all individuals and programs receiving federal funding commit to abiding by Canada’s anti-racism strategies.” 

Nor is the call for mandatory training reinventing the wheel, says Roberston, noting the Treasury Board already developed training. “It’s just about making sure that it’s undertaken by all of our public service, so public servants are able to properly identify and address instances of contemporary antisemitism that may arise through the course of their work.”

There was no ask involving physical security and infrastructure through the Canada Community Security Program (CCSP), Robertson insisting maintaining that the rise in extremism and radicalization is the greatest threat to the long-term vitality and well-being of Canadian Jews. “Our submission was strategically designed to implore the federal government to invest in resources that will combat the growth of extremism radicalization in this country,” he said, “for training for the public service, attestation forms—all of these designed to ensure that our government is investing in the fight against racism and hatred proactively.” 

In other words: first lines of defence, rather than last. “I hope to one day live in a Canada where security funding for institutions is no longer needed, because our government has proactively combatted rising levels of extremism, radicalization, incitement and division. That is where we believe the funding is most urgently needed.”

In the crosshairs

Meanwhile, CIJA CEO Noah Shack wrote to Prime Minister Carney, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree in the hours following the October 2 Yom Kippur terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester, England. 

He reminded them that “Jewish Canadians have been in the crosshairs” since October 7, 2023, with schools shot at, synagogues firebombed and desecrated, Jewish-owned businesses targeted, coordinated efforts to exclude Jews from public life, and violent assaults. “The numbers speak for themselves: a Jewish Canadian is 25 times more likely to experience a hate crime than any other Canadian.” (According to Statistics Canada, there were 920 police-reported hate crimes against Jews in 2024, exceeding all hate crimes targeting other religious groups that year combined.)

Following the announcement of new legislation to protect access to places of worship, schools, and community centres, he urged the government preparing its first budget “to consider the urgent need to invest in strengthening security for the Jewish community—to help safeguard lives within these institutions.”

The CCSP, which replaced the Security Infrastructure Program last year, has been a crucial resource to enhance security, disbursing more than $40 million to more than 940 projects helping all Canadian communities at risk of hate-motivated crimes to date. 

That’s a sum equal to the annual amount spent solely by Canada’s Jewish community, which comprises less than one percent of the country’s population. Security costs for Canadian Jewish communities total more than $40 million due to the spike in threats and attacks, Shack told The CJN, the cost extending beyond financial, but also affecting Canadian Jews’ ability to live Jewish lives and pass on traditions to their children.

The U.K. model

CIJA is suggesting significant budget increases, similar to the United Kingdom, whose Jewish population totals some 300,000, about two-thirds the size of Canada’s. The U.K. government this year announced a four-year funding package of approximately CAD$33.5 million annually to the Community Security Trust (CST), whose mandate begins with the physical protection and defence of the country’s Jews, and which gained charitable status in 1994. 

According to a statement from the Trust to The CJN, the CST relies almost entirely on direct community donations for core funding, as there is no centralized federation funding structure in the U.K. Those funds pay for CST’s operating costs and for contributions to the cost of security equipment and infrastructure at community buildings, including more than 500 synagogues and Jewish community sites across the country.

Separate from its operating costs, the Trust administers annual state funding on behalf of the U.K. Home Office to pay for Jewish schools, synagogues and other premises to hire security guards from private firms.  In 2024, CST, staffed by some 100 employees and 2,000 volunteers, managed government funding for commercial security guards to over 200 educational establishments, summer and winter camps for 28 youth movements, over 260 synagogues, nearly 50 high-profile communal buildings, and multisite operations that covered over 100 Jewish communal and commercial sites within close proximity to each other.

Public Safety Canada spokesperson Noémie Allard told The CJN that the 2025-26 CCSP core budget funding for all communities is $16.6 million but may be bolstered in response to emerging priorities or evolving community needs, “determined through broader government initiatives or budgetary decisions.”

Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather notes that the program allocated some $81.5 million, beginning in 2023 until 2029, adding, “we had gotten many of the community’s requests for changes to the program accepted, but these are additional needs that still need to be met.” He told The CJN his budget priorities are “funding for 24 by 7 operations centers and permanent security guards as well as consideration of direct funding of a community trust type operation as exists in the U.K.”

The CCSP emphasizes proactive measures to enhance safety without isolating physical barriers, said Allard, based on principles of crime prevention through environmental design. That means rather than barricading or fortifying locations, eligible enhancements “focus on visibility, access control, natural surveillance and environmental design to deter threats.” 

The program supports expenditures such as modest security hardware; minor renovations; developing security assessments and emergency plans; training activities for security equipment; preparing for and responding to hate-motivated incidents; and time-limited hiring of security personnel.

Moving beyond individual institutions 

Shack says increased funds are required for more than simply hiring extra security for high holidays, installing gates or cement bollards. “It’s all of it, together, with new infrastructure for a coordinated approach to security in places like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, taking our security posture as a community to the next level.” That means moving beyond individual institutions, but looking after the most vulnerable communities, like the Community Security Network in Montreal and the Jewish Security Network in Toronto. 

Earlier this year, Deputy Opposition Leader and Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman wrote Anandasangaree about “continued concerns” with management of the CCSP and its SIP predecessor, which she says remain unaddressed. “Applications for items previously covered by the CCSP and the SIP, including internal security blinds, automated vehicular gates, emergency crash bars, and the ancillary fees for security cameras, continue to be denied by your government with little to no explanation.”

Consequently, she says, synagogues, community centres, and other places are often forced to go without needed security infrastructure while “crimes against Jews are skyrocketing across Canada by triple digits or more.” This budget round, Lantsman’s office is asking for increased funding for security infrastructure and for Ottawa to fully review its funding, “and end any arrangements where money could end up supporting terrorism, (ex. ceasing all funding to UNRWA).” 

Without specifying a dollar amount, Shack says the point is that the threat facing Jewish Canadians is no different than that facing Jews in Britain, France or Australia, “and it’s important that we’re doing everything we can to address that. We shouldn’t have to shoulder that all on our own.” 

Nor is there a single magic wand: “We need to make sure that police have the resources they need to be present and do their jobs, and we need to make sure that the right cops are available to do the right jobs to keep our community safe.” It’s not about shuffling resources around, but something sustainable until the threat level changes. That means money for prosecutors, money for cops, “not just for them to exist, but also to be properly trained. You can’t just throw a body at the problem.” 

Draw lessons from Manchester

The warning signs are here, says Shack, “and we should draw lessons from Manchester, and ensure that we are looking after these critical components.” While Manchester is an ocean and several time zones away, “it’s almost like it’s just next door… I wish it wasn’t so, but this is the reality and we need government to be our partner. We should absolutely not wait for the worst to take place before we prepare to deal with it.”

He insists there’s an important distinction between being prepared and resolved when facing challenges and being fearful: “Everybody is entitled to their feelings and how they’re going to respond to the moment, but we have to look at how we can keep ourselves safe and continue to thrive as a community. Not hiding, not fearing, but being prepared and having eyes wide open to the threats.”

The post Federal budget should include funds to combat hate, protect communities, groups argue appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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‘Why do we have to waste a few weeks?’: Satmar rabbi congratulates Mamdani during Williamsburg sukkah hop

This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 25 days to the election.

🫂Mamdani on tour

  • Zohran Mamdani met with Orthodox Jewish leaders at their sukkahs in Williamsburg yesterday, an overture to a community that has leaned toward Andrew Cuomo in polls.

  • Mamdani had a warm welcome at the sukkah of Rabbi Moishe Indig, a leader of the Satmar Hasidic community. One rabbi announced that Indig had called Mamdani “a friend of the Jewish people” and said he would make “the best mayor.”

  • “Congratulations — why do we have to waste a few weeks? — on becoming the mayor of New York City. We hope you come back,” said the rabbi who greeted Mamdani. Indig also hosted Brad Lander, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and several NYPD officers at his sukkah.

  • The seal of approval marks a shift in Mamdani’s fortunes with Orthodox leaders. In early June, before Mamdani beat Cuomo in the primary, the Satmar community endorsed Cuomo.

  • Mamdani also stopped at the sukkah of Rabbi Shulem Deutch, who represents another Satmar faction.

  • The Satmars prioritize keeping their religious ways of life free from regulation by local governments. When Cuomo was the governor of New York, he cultivated close ties with Satmar leaders and struck deals with them over yeshiva rules.

  • While the frontrunner’s staunch criticism of Israel has prompted skepticism among some Jewish New Yorkers, it’s a different matter for Satmar Jews. Traditionally, they are among the ultra-Orthodox who identify with religious anti-Zionism and do not recognize the state of Israel.

📊 Numbers to know

  • Mamdani leads the race with 46% of likely voters, according to the first poll released since Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race.

  • The Quinnipiac poll showed most of Adams’ support transferring to Cuomo, but Cuomo still trailing Mamdani with 33% support. Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa amassed 15% of likely voters.

  • While Mamdani continues to lead, the poll showed little new support for him as he failed to clear a majority of the vote.

  • Quinnipiac also reported that 41% of likely voters aligned with Mamdani’s views on the Israel-Hamas conflict, more than those who aligned with Cuomo (26%) and Sliwa (13%) combined. And their sympathies lie more with Palestinians (43%) than with Israelis (22%). These findings match up with those of a New York Times/Siena poll last month.

  • But Mamdani’s vow to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hasn’t gained the same traction, with 43% of likely voters opposing his pledge and 38% supporting it.

  • The poll was conducted from Oct. 3-7 and has an error margin of 3.9%.

🕺 Curtis Sliwa dances for Sukkot

💰 Following the money

  • Cuomo scored a big boost yesterday, with the NYC Campaign Finance Board awarding his campaign $2.3 million in public matching funds.
  • Mamdani, who halted fundraising in early September when he hit the $8 million spending cap, also received $1 million from the CFB. Sliwa got $1.1 million.


The post ‘Why do we have to waste a few weeks?’: Satmar rabbi congratulates Mamdani during Williamsburg sukkah hop appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Palestinian Authority Slams Trump as ‘Criminal’ and ‘Unstable’ as He Tries to Help Bring Peace

US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect

President Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to improve the lives of Palestinians. He has invested tremendous political and financial capital to genuinely attempt to give Palestinians a future of opportunity instead of one of violence and terror.

Yet, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has responded not with appreciation, but with vicious demonization.

Jibril Rajoub, one of the PA’s most senior officials and among the closest to Mahmoud Abbas, has unleashed multiple hate-filled rants against Trump in recent weeks.

Rajoub mocked Trump as frivolous, childish, and unstable — “a puppet” of the “Nazis who control Israel”:

Click to play

Jibril Rajoub: “An [American] president is in power who speaks in a language of frivolity, childishness, and instability and lack of perspective, even at the minimum level …

This [pro-Israel] bias — in my opinion, it is even more than that. He has even become a toy, a puppet in the hands of the group of Nazis who control Israel.” [emphasis added]

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Sept. 11, 2025]

The previous week, Rajoub accused “criminal Trump” of being a partner to and supporting “neo-Nazi” Israel:

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Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The American administration gave the green light to this fascist [Israeli] government, the neo-Nazi government, to treat the Palestinian issue as if it were an internal Israeli matter, including the continuation of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and the slow annexation of all Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

This, of course, aligns with the belief of these neo-Nazis who control Israel … Those who are doing in Gaza what the Nazis did in the 1940s will undoubtedly have no problem taking any [further] step … They behave like the neighborhood bully… with the support of the criminal Trump, who is their partner.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Sept. 2, 2025]

Rajoub’s hate speech is not isolated. Earlier this year, Palestinian Media Watch reported on how Rajoub accused Trump of joining together with “neo-Nazi choir” Israel to “impose their will on the world.”

Rajoub’s statements are part of the PA’s policy of demonizing the US and its leaders, which has been going on for decades. The PA’s disdain for the US has been expressed during both Democratic and Republican administrations. This is in spite of the US being the country giving the greatest amount of funding to the PA since its establishment.

Itamar Marcus is Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s Founder and Director. Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.

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