Ancient Persia and Today’s Iran

As we rejoice in the victory of the Jews over the evil Haman while reading the Megillah of Esther, it is important to realize that “there is nothing new under the sun.” The Persia of 5th Century BC is not unlike the Iran of today. While the King of Persia, Ahashveurus, is clearly manipulated by the evil Haman, and the Jews are only rescued because of the efforts of Mordechai and Queen Esther, today’s mullahs in Iran seem to know just what they are saying and doing.

While working on a nuclear bomb, shooting off ballistic missiles inscribed with the intent to destroy Israel, arming Hezbollah on the Syrian/Lebanese border and Hamas in Gaza, denying the Holocaust, there is no reason to doubt their desired intent to “erase the Zionist entity.” Let us hope that the Purim story is prophetic, and that the evil Iranian plotters will “swing from the gallows erected for Mordechai”, just as Haman did.

Another key instruction in the Book of Esther is the fact that we can’t sit idly by while our people are threatened. Mordechai tells Esther, when she hesitates about going before the King without being summoned, that she will suffer the same fate as her brethren if she doesn’t intervene. This is the driving force in AFSI’s activism. We cannot wait until we personally bleed but must speak out and get involved when danger is sighted. The noise of the Purim grogger, at the mention of Haman’s name, is a reminder that we must make noise also – in defense of our freedom and our people.

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