Big deal, they’re just the latest in a long list of Persian/Iranian threateners, starting with that evil man, Haman, continuing through Ayatollah Khomeini and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right up to the present leadership.
Ahmadinejad suggested, during “The World Without Zionism” conference in Tehran in 2005, that Israel should be “wiped off the map”. Referring to Ayatollah Khomeini, Ahmadinejad said, “Our dear Imam said that the occupying regime must be wiped off the map and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine.”
I guess they never heard of the Purim idea, V’Nahafoch-hu/a complete reversal – what they planned for us, coming back on their own heads – Rezaie, Soleimani and the rest of the current Iranian leadership, should read the Megilat Esther, before it’s too late for Iran.
Saddam Hussein threatened Israel before them, in April 1990, to wipe out half of Israel with chemical weapons, “I swear to God, we will let our fire eat half of Israel if it tries anything against Iraq.” Saddam also said, “We don't need an atomic bomb, [after Israel bombed Iraq’s Osirak reactor] because we have advanced chemical weapons.” And, as late as 2000, Hussein was still threatening that his country could destroy Israel, if it was given access to land next to the Jewish state.
Stop and think for a moment: the first Gulf War in 1991, ended erev – just before – Purim. The second Gulf War in 2003, began motzei – just after – Shushan Purim. Get the picture? In between, “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor,” (Megilat Esther 8:16). Look what happened to Saddam Hussein and Iraq. Hussein was hanged like Haman, get it! And, Iraq isn’t a threat to Israel anymore.
But, we already knew that wars are for us – i.e., the Jews and Israel. Chazal – our sages – throughout the ages have explained the Torah, telling us that everything that happens in the world is for the benefit of the Jewish People. As it says in the Talmud, “Every war in Israel is a stage in the redemption of Israel,” (Megillah 17b). The Redemption occurs in stages, war after war.
Read the Purim story in Megilat Esther again, it’s a rags to riches story on a national scale. Haman, the proto-typical anti-Semite, plans mass murder of the Jews and in the end pays with his life, the life of his ten sons – all hanged – and the Jews kill 75, 811 members of the anti-Semitic – i.e. Nazi – party of the time.
This is not so different from the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, when 23 Nazi war criminals were tried. Originally 11 were to have the death penalty imposed if found guilty. Everybody in those days thought that they would be shot – as is customary in military executions – or get the electric chair – as was common in the United States. But when the judges announced the verdict of guilty, they also said that hanging would be the method of execution. Two hours before the execution, they found Hermann Goering dead in his cell. He had committed suicide. Interestingly, it is said about Goering, that he liked to dress up in feminine attire. His cross-dressing and suicide would parallel Haman’s daughter, who also committed suicide. That left only 10 Nazis to execute, just like Haman’s sons.
There is more to this story than meets the eye. In Megilat Esther (9:7-9), when it describes the execution of Haman's ten sons, their names are listed in a vertical column. If you look at the Hebrew closely, you'll notice extra-small letters in three of the names. The first name, Parshandata, has a small tav. The seventh name, Parmashta, has a small shin. The tenth name, Vayzata, has a small zayn. Hebrew letters are also used as numbers, as well as for dates in the Jewish calendar. Tav, shin, zayn, which numerically is 707, corresponding to the year 5707, which began with Rosh HaShanah – the Jewish New Year – on September 25, 1946.
On October 16, 1946, as foreshadowed in the names of Haman's ten sons, ten Nazi leaders were hanged as war criminals. And if that doesn't impress you, out of nowhere, with the rope around his neck, Julius Schtreicher – editor of Der Sturmer, the Nazi propaganda newspaper – shouted out with flaming hatred in his eyes, just as the trap door opened, "Purimfest 1946!" It was reported in the international press of the day.
Another example of the Purim idea, V’Nahafoch-hu/a complete reversal – what they planned for us, coming back on their own heads – in action.
In ancient Persia, the proto-Nazi party was wiped out, and so too, in modern times, Nazi Germany and Saddam’s Iraq were defanged. Like I said earlier, Rezaie, Soleimani, and the rest of the Iranian leadership, should read the Megilat Esther, before it’s too late for Iran… Happy Purim!
Ariel Natan Pasko, an independent analyst and consultant, has a Master's Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy & Policy Analysis. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. His latest articles can also be read on his archive: The Think Tank by Ariel Natan Pasko.
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