Queen Elizabeth II has been The Queen for my entire life and for the lifetime of my parents. In a fast-paced 70 years that have seen jet travel, war, humans go to the moon, the fall of the Soviet Union, the emergence of new world powers, the internet, and the crumbling of so many social norms and conventions—she was a constant.

Even we freedom-loving Americans who celebrate our nation’s gutsy rejection of the monarchy could not help paying some attention to the palace, but more, looking up to the queen who presided over it all.

Dignified, smiling, and doing the right thing.

The Talmudic sage Rav Sheshet taught us that “the earthly kingdom is a glimmer of the Heavenly Kingdom.” A monarch here on earth is a reflection of the Divine King of kings—powerful, regal, and restrained.

Although he was blind, the Talmud tells us, Rav Sheshet could sense the presence of royalty. Not by the noisy regiments of soldiers marching by, but when all fell silent—that’s when he knew that he was in the presence of a monarch.

Queen Elizabeth taught the world much through what she did not do.

When her family experienced division and strife, she did not go public and shame those who caused her anguish.

After greeting visitors for hours, when surely she longed to put up her feet and sip a cup of tea, she did not cancel the rest of her appointments for the day.

She was the closest we could get to the paradigm of royalty, the closest we could point to as a textbook case of the “king” we read about in Jewish literature.

The queen was a fixture in a fast-changing world, and her presence and poise will be missed.

It is no accident that her passing comes just days after Jews all over the world read the Torah portion of Shoftim, which includes instructions for the Jewish king: he was not to collect too many horses, could not amass too big a harem, nor stock his treasury more than necessary.

Rather, he was to study Torah to guard himself from haughtily “raising his heart above his brethren.”

Humility and royalty go hand in hand.

And royal humility does not come from not being aware of one’s achievements or power. Rather it comes from recognizing that there is something or Someone far greater than oneself. True, the people gave the queen adulation, honor, and creature comforts. But she returned the favor many times over with leadership, concern and humble commitment to guiding them through 70 years of tremendous change.

This humility, commitment, and dedication to the greater good is something we can all incorporate into our own lives.

And to the humble and committed monarch of the British Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II, we all pay our deepest respect and marvel at your lifetime of achievement.