Shluchim Invited to Queen’s Party

By COLlive reporter

A Chabad Shluchim couple was at Buckingham Palace in London, England, to attend the first summer garden party hosted by Queen Elizabeth II, on Tuesday.

Rabbi Menachem and Goldie Junik, who head the Beis Gavriel Lubavitch community in Hendon and direct the Jewish Home Network, were guests at the outdoor reception.

At the first of three parties this year, the Queen was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, Earl and Countess of Wessex and Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

“We love having another girl,” the Queen said about the arrival of her great-granddaughter Princess Charlotte.

When Queen Elizabeth came onto the porch in the back of Buckingham Palace, the National Anthem was played.

“We felt a sense of pride and humility at the same time to be in the presence of true royalty,” said Rabbi Menachem Junik. “One could see royalty when looking at the Queen and one felt that we were in the presence of Malchus, of royalty.”

Garden parties have been held at Buckingham Palace since the 1860s hosted by Queen Victoria. Since the 1950s, the parties have evolved into a way of rewarding and recognizing public service. They are attended by people from all walks of life.

According to news reports, at the Garden Party Prince Charles met a Holocaust survivor who, even in her 80s, is still taking educational tours to Poland.

Eva Neumann, 86, lost her parents and two brothers in Auschwitz, but managed to survive herself. “Her family all died on the day they arrived,” said her daughter, Leah.

“It was a big honor and privilege to be invited,” said Mrs. Goldie Junik, who is also the Head of Hebrew Studies at Lubavitch Senior Girls’ School London. “The garden parties are a recognition of work one does for the wider community and when Jewish people are acknowledged, and even more so Shluchim, it brings honor to the Jewish community as a whole and to the Rebbe and Lubavitch in particular,” she said.