Saved by a grape

It was one of those moments when you wish the ground would open and swallow you up.

We had been invited, Elaine and myself, to lunch at 10 Downing Street for the first time. The Prime Minister, John Major, was hosting a small gathering to welcome the then President of the State of lsrael, the late Chaim Herzog. We were thrilled to be going.

With some days to go, our office received a phone call. It was 10 Downing Street with an unusual request. Since the Chief Rabbi and the President would require kosher food, and so as not to embarrass us by making us eat differently from others round the table, it had been decided to make the whole lunch kosher. Could we arrange for a caterer? Of course we could.

I was immensely moved. Sometimes I wish we Jews were as sensitive to one another as others are to us.

The next day we received another call. It was 10 Downing Street again. Would the Chief Rabbi please say Grace at the lunch? He would be delighted to, my Executive Director replied. There was a pause, then a hesitant voice continued, 'Do you think it could be a short grace? The Prime Minister’s schedule that day is rather tight.’ (It turned out that this was the day on which, immediately after the lunch, John Major went to the House of Commons to announce the break-up of the marriage between Prince Charles and Princess Diana.)

There is such a thing as a short grace in Judaism, although the details are somewhat technical. It involves using something called mezonot bread - bread made in an unusual way - which does not require us to perform the ritual washing of hands before the meal or the full gGrace afterwards. We said we would arrange it.

The day arrived. It was a splendid gathering. As well as the President, there were several members of the Israeli Cabinet, together with the British Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and other distinguished guests. It is hard to explain what it means to be a member of a people for so many centuries deprived of civil rights, and then to be present at such an occasion, in freedom and equality, standing tall. Inwardly I made the blessing thanking God for ‘bringing us to this day’.

The guests made their way into the dining room. We took our places at the table. The Prime Minister stood and said, ‘I now call on the Chief Rabbi to say Grace,‘ and everyone rose expectantly. It was then that I realized that, just when you think you have explained everything, there is always something you have overlooked.

In Jewish law, to make a blessing, you have to hold the thing over which you are making a blessing. It has to be there, or you cannot bless it. That is why, in a Jewish home, there is always bread on the table at the beginning of the meal. It never occurred to me that this might not be the universal custom.

The table at No. 10 was empty. Sixteen people were waiting for me to make a blessing, and there was nothing to make a blessing on. Nor was there anyone to turn to. The waiters had disappeared into the kitchen. The Chef de Protocol had withdrawn.

What do you do on such an occasion? I was faced with the choice of saying what, in Jewish law, would have constituted taking God's name in vain, or of disobeying the Prime Minister and remaining silent. Out of nowhere, a diplomatic debacle was in the making.

I was just lifting my eyes towards heaven when my prayer was answered. Halfway down the table was a gold ornament. Someone had decided to adorn it with a bunch of grapes. It was the only item of food in the room. In relief, I made a comprehensive blessing that included grapes, and ate one. Honour was saved.

Later, we had a laugh over what had happened. ‘Prime Minister,’ I said, ‘your faith is different from ours. To put it bluntly, you have more faith than we do. You thank God for “that which we are about to receive”. After long experience, we prefer to have received it first!’

God sends us messages all the time, usually in code. I think this one was saying, ‘Remember what a blessing is.’ A blessing is an expression of the miracle of simple things. Making a blessing means recapturing the vision of which William Blake wrote:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

Auguries of Innocence, I.1-4

I was being reminded that, yes, Prime Ministers and Presidents are important, but so too is a grape. All around us are incarnations of glory, and all it takes to see them is to say a blessing - for the moment, for God’s gift, for life.