On sundown of Monday, March 2, Jews around the world began their commemoration of the feast of Purim, celebrating the Biblical and nigh-miraculous rescue of the Jews from annihilation at the hands of an evil Persian official. Almost two and a half millennia later, this Purim happens as the U.S. and Israel are in the midst of a historic and so far very successful operation against the genocidal Islamic dictatorship of Iran (Persia).
The ancient and modern parallels have seemed to many, both Jews and Christians, a sign that God is again fighting for His people against a Persian Jew-hating tyrant as He did in the Biblical era. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was just as bent on wiping out Jews, particularly Israeli Jews, as was Haman, and just like Haman his bloodlust backfired on him and sent him to Hell.
Even in times of emergency, we don’t give up on our traditions.
— Beilinson Hospital (@Beilinson_ENG) March 2, 2026
Patients and their families gathered today with our medical staff and hospital leadership for a moving Megillah reading in Beilinson's underground emergency hospital.
"The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and… pic.twitter.com/qUhl9acrdP
If you haven’t read the Biblical book of Esther lately, Aman or Haman was the 4th century Persian imperial official who was so furious that the Jewish scribe Mordecai would not bow to him — Mordecai reserved that obeisance only for God — that Haman plotted the destruction of all Mordecai’s people. Haman cast purim or lots to determine the date on which he would order the massacre of all Jews in the Persian Empire.
What Haman, who had the complete confidence and authority of the king Assuerus or Ahasuerus, did not know was that the new queen Esther was really a Jewish girl, Hadassah, a young relative of Mordecai. At Mordecai’s urging, Queen Esther went before the king without being summoned, the penalty for which was death. The king loved Esther so much he spared her and attended feasts she arranged for him and Haman, whereupon she revealed to the king her Jewish identity and Haman’s plot. The king empowered the Jews to defend themselves, promoted Mordecai, and had Haman hanged on the gibbet he prepared for Mordecai. The Jews celebrate their victory with the feast of Purim to this day.
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This Purim, many Israelis are under threat of attacks from the genocidal Iranian regime that has always aimed to wipe Israel off the map. Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist groups have long received Iranian regime backing. The Oct. 7 massacre was a product of Iranian-Hamas coordination. The Haman of today tried to destroy God's people, but was destroyed instead. And just as the Jews once found allies as well as enemies among the Persians, so now the Persian people cheer for Israel as Israel and the U.S. take down the Islamic regime of Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement reflecting on the necessity of this war. “We are on the third day of the 'Lion's Roar' campaign. We embarked on this campaign to remove from us the attempt to renew existential threats, and we also embarked to create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny,” he said. “We read in this week's Torah portion 'Remember what Amalek did to you.' We remember—and we act.”
And as Israelis — and other Jews worldwide — celebrate Purim, we pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Esther will again grant His people victory over their enemies in Persia.
