March 29, 2006
The Corporation of London, which governs the British capital's financial district, has held a dinner to honor the UK's Jewish community as part of a year-long celebration marking 350 years since Jews were admitted back into England. The gathering of dignitaries included various parliamentarians, the Royal family's Prince Phillip and religious leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and British chief rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks. Lord Levene, a former Lord Mayor of London, chaired the event and gave the toast.
"The Jewish community has been given the gift of freedom. With that freedom, we have always accepted the responsibility of ensuring that others too can enjoy that gift," the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Henry Grunwald, responded to the toast, adding, "In the last 350 years we have managed to find our way through and along the complicated pathways of civic society. It took us a very long time, and we feel a heavy responsibility to ensure that other communities who have not been here for so long can achieve as much as we have in a considerably shorter time, which is why we place so much importance on interfaith and inter-communal activities."
