Death of Iranian leader just before Purim revives Book of Esther parallels - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

"Twenty-five hundred years ago, in ancient Persia, a tyrant rose against us with the very same goal, to utterly destroy our people. Today as well, on Purim, the lot has fallen, and in the end this evil regime will fall too."

"The holiday takes its cue from the Book of Esther, which describes how the Jewish queen to the Persian king Ahasuerus engineers the downfall of Haman, an advisor to the king who was plotting the murder of the kingdom's Jews. Although Jewish tradition treats the book as historical, biblical scholars and historians tend to regard the story as a historical novella."

"Known as Persia until 1935, Iran has been belligerent toward Israel at least since the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79, which brought clerics like Khamenei, with their frequent chant of Death to Israel, to power."

Following Ali Khamenei's death in an Israeli air strike on Shabbat before Purim, Jewish leaders and commentators drew parallels to the Book of Esther, which recounts how the Jewish queen Esther thwarted the Persian tyrant Haman's plot to destroy the Jews. Prime Minister Netanyahu explicitly compared Khamenei to Haman, suggesting historical patterns repeating. Purim celebrates this ancient Jewish survival story from fifth-century Persia. Iran, known as Persia until 1935, has maintained hostility toward Israel since the 1978-79 Islamic Revolution. While Jewish tradition treats Esther as historical, scholars regard it as a historical novella rather than literal history. The timing created symbolic collision between ancient religious narrative and contemporary geopolitical conflict.

Read at Jewish Telegraphic Agency