Standing before Purim this year has opened my mind drifts to thoughts about Persia of that time, and Iran of today, and their relationships with the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
In the Book of Esther, we encounter Persia of the time of King Ahasuerus. A mighty empire, a global center of power, culture, and influence. Not a geographical fringe, but the heart of the world.
Within this empire, a seemingly small but painfully charged story takes place. An attempt to destroy an entire people not because of war or rebellion, but because of its very existence. The attempted genocide of the Jewish people.
Haman is not a military leader, and he is not a conqueror. He is an ideologue.
” There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s…” (Esther 3:8) This is how Haman describes the Jews. Not as a security threat, but a threat because they are different.
The Jews did not pose a military...
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