As a subject of Queen Elizabeth and as someone who was raised in Great Britain, this week's Diamond Jubilee celebrations of 60 years of the Queen's rule were an interesting and fascinating sight to follow. Over the years, Queen Elizabeth has honored several individuals who I know for their communal and social work, including the Rabbi of Chabad of the UK, Rabbi Nachman Sudak and overall has sought to be very inclusive of the Jewish Community.
I enjoyed watching a clip of the Queen's procession, as she was driven in her royal carriage, parading through the streets of London cheered on by the huge crowds until eventually returning to the Palace. As she approached the palace and the Royal Regiments played music to enhance the fanfare surrounding her entry, there was no doubt that something majestic and historic was unfolding and a moment that will go down in history was just experienced.
individuals with Royal Leadership and that they have the potential to use their unique abilities to make a difference to entire countries and continents. In addition, we are asked to pray for the welfare of our leaders so that they have good health and always choose to make the right decisions and moral choices. In 2000 when my Rabbi from England was honored by the Queen with the OBE (Order of the British Empire) he gifted the queen with a magnificent Mezuzah to have in her Palace to serve as reminder of the ultimate ruler of this world. This tradition was actually done in the times of the Talmud when Rabbi Judah the Prince gifted the Roman Emperor with a Mezuzah.
While mentioning the power of music and ceremony, it is interesting to note that in this week’s portion of Behaalotcha, it describes the two silver trumpets which were to be used by Moses in the desert for certain events. The trumpets were used when summoning the people to teach them Torah or to convey a message from G-d, to summon the elders of the people and to announce the beginning of a journey by the two million people to their next destination in the desert. An early commentary called the Chinuch explains one of the ideas and purposes of the trumpets, being that as humans we have a tendency to become distracted easily and to get caught up in the tumult of life. Thus the purpose of using trumpets to summon the Jews or using trumpets and music in the ritual service in the Temple served to call the people’s attention and to help them tune into the specific role and spiritual service that was needed at 
the time. He explains that music and musical notes have the unique ability of drawing us in, involving us in something and stimulating our behavior like few other things. Thus using music for these spiritual purposes had the ability to help the people connect spiritually, mentally and emotionally with the calling of the hour. It is for this reason that melodies and song have been a mainstay of Jewish prayer for thousands of years and in more recent times why Chassidic melodies have been central to the Chassidic way of life and celebrations. Rabbi Joseph Schneersohn the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe used to describe Chassidic melodies as the “Pen of the Soul”.
Click here to view and hear some Jewish & Chassidic Melodies
Click here to see a powerful rendition of the Chassidic song Ani Maamin by Cantor Helfgot last year.
With best wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and Good Shabbos and Mazal Tov to the Queen.
Rabbi Yisroel Freeman