ENHANCE - 2nd Quarter 2023

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Feature The Coronation of King Charles III The 6 th May 2023 will mark the historic Coronation of King Charles III and of his wife, Camilla, as Queen. We give thanks for the life and Christian service of the late Queen Elizabeth II for whom many Christians prayed over the 70 years of her reign. Her values were clear for all to see - Christian leadership, family and a personal walk with God, a true woman of the Bible and of prayer. The Coronation is centred around a solemn religious ceremony and has remained largely unchanged for more than 1,000 years. For the last 900 years it has taken place at Westminster Abbey, London, and is conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Coronation in 2023 will differ from others to reflect modern times with ‘Coronation Big Lunches’ around the UK and Commonwealth, a spectacular ‘Coronation Concert’ at Windsor Castle with laser and drone displays, followed by an extra bank holiday on 8 th May. The Chrism oil which will be used to anoint the King has been consecrated in Jerusalem. It was created using olives harvested from two groves on the Mount of Olives, at the Monastery of Mary Magdalene and the Monastery of the Ascension. The Monastery of Mary Magdalene is the burial place of King Charles’ grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece. The olives were pressed just outside Bethlehem and the oil has been perfumed with essential oils – sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, benzoin and amber – as well as orange blossom. This oil is based on that used for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II – a formula used for hundreds of years. It will also be used for the anointing of Camilla as Queen. The Archbishop of Canterbury said, “Since beginning the planning for the Coronation, my desire has been for a new Coronation Oil to be produced using olive oil from the Mount of Olives. This demonstrates the deep historic link between the Coronation, the Bible and the Holy Land. From ancient kings through to the present day, monarchs have been anointed with oil from this sacred place. As we prepare to anoint the King and his Queen, I pray that they would be guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.” In his first Christmas speech as King, Charles quoted the much-loved carol ‘O little town of Bethlehem’ and referred tenderly to his mother and her faith in God and in people. He spoke of his trip to Israel in January 2020 where he had met the then Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at his official residence in Jerusalem. He saw a model of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in the Israel Museum and the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book Museum. Later he attended the World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem and made a speech saying, “The Holocaust must never be allowed to become simply a fact of history. We must never cease to be appalled, nor moved by the testimony of those who lived through it. Their experience must always educate, and guide, and warn us.” On his second day in the Holy Land he visited the Mosque of Omar, the only mosque in the Old City of Bethlehem, heard about its history and signed the visitors’ book. He then visited the Church of the Nativity for an ecumenical service and later travelled to see the tomb of his grandmother, Princess Alice, at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives, near the Garden of Gethsemane. In his first New Year Honours List, King Charles knighted Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis in recognition of his services to the Jewish community, interfaith relations and education. It was one of the most extensive lists of honours for Jewish community leaders, Holocaust survivors and philanthropists in memory. Sir Ephraim told the Jewish News: “I am enormously honoured and deeply humbled by this award. It will be particularly moving for me to receive this award from His Majesty the King in his first year as our monarch.” We pray for the power of God’s love to strengthen all family relationships in the House of Windsor; in particular for reconciliation, humility, greater understanding and communication between them and for forgiveness where needed. As our nation continues to face economic downturn and civil unease, within a world often rife with conflict, we pray for God’s will to be fulfilled in members of the Royal Family, that they will stand up as people of strong Christian faith and serve our nation well, following in the legacy of the late Queen. 8 ENHANCE • 2 nd Quarter 2023
Feature Hidden Treasures Back to bagels Traditional Jewish Kracover Polish bagels The bagel’s known history goes back at least six centuries. While we know them in 21 st century UK, the bagel’s appearance probably began in Poland. In her excellent book, ‘The Bagel: the Surprising History of a Modest Bread,’ Maria Balinska shares some theories of its origin. Balinska first suggests the possibility that they travelled East to Poland from Germany as part of a migration flow during the 14 th century. At the time ‘pretzels’, the thick bread of the German variety, moved out of their original home in monasteries to become readily available feast-day bread. German immigrants, brought to Poland to help build the economy, brought the ‘pretzels’ with them. In Poland, so the theory goes, the German breads morphed into a round roll with a hole in the middle that became known in Poland as an ‘obwarzanek’ which means to ‘boil’ in Polish. Written records of them appear as early as the 14 th century. They gained notoriety when Queen Jadwiga, known for her charity and piety, opted to eat obwarzanek during Lent, in lieu of the more richly flavoured breads and pastries she enjoyed the rest of the year. While that might seem like quite a step in the context of Marie Antoinette’s later comment “let them eat cake”, note that, although Queen Jadwiga was apparently pretty down-to-earth as queens go, obwarzanek at that time wasn’t exactly the kind of inexpensive street food that bagels became a few centuries later. Lent, then as now, was a period during which devout Christians consciously chose deprivation - but what constitutes ‘deprivation’ is relative. What the queen chose for her daily bread was rather costly at the time, because wheat was not cheap. Most Poles in her day could barely afford the cheaper, coarser breads made from rye flour. So, obwarzanek was primarily the province of princes, nobles, and men and women of means, not the poor. A second theory dates the first bagels to the late 17 th century in Austria, saying that they were invented in 1683 by a Viennese baker trying to pay tribute to the King of Poland, Jan Sobieski. The king had led Austria and Poland in repelling invading Turkish armies. Given that the king was famous for his love of horses, the baker decided to shape his dough into a circle that looked like a stirrup – or ‘beugel’ in German. Bagels and the fight against bias A third theory suggests that, as Jewish food, the bagel really came of age during the era of Polish history known as the “Nobles’ Democracy.” While intolerance and conflict reigned elsewhere, Poland was probably the preeminent country for tolerance, acceptance, education, and understanding. Unlike almost every other country in Europe, Poles identified themselves as citizens of their country rather than of any divisive framework based on religious, ethnic, or linguistic origins. This mindset created the environment where Jews were first allowed the opportunity to bake and sell bread – of which bagels were an integral part. The shift started to take place in the late 13 th century. Balinska refers to the breakthrough ruling by Polish Prince Boleslaw the Pious in 1264 that said, “Jews may freely buy and sell and touch bread like Christians.” To quote Balinska, “This was a radical step, so radical that (in reaction) in 1267 a group of Polish bishops forbade Christians to buy any foodstuffs from Jews, darkly hinting that they contained poison for the unsuspecting gentile.” At some point, the theory goes, Jews were allowed to work with bread that was boiled, and they created the bagel to comply with this ruling. 2 nd Quarter 2023 • ENHANCE 9
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Page 5 and 6: Hebrew Word Focus Melissa Briggs MA
Page 7: Psalms 90:2; 106:48 Conference Feed
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ENHANCE - 2nd Quarter 2023

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