Some stories stick with us not because they’re easy or comforting, but because they cut through the noise and make things clear. They show, in a straightforward way that’s almost too simple, how power isn’t as solid as it acts, and how courage—shaky, hesitant, the kind nobody really wants – ends up being the thing tyrants can’t ever fully crush.

Purim’s one of those stories. And in a very real way, it’s Iran’s story.

Way before Persia turned into a symbol of rigid religious rule, it was the backdrop for this sharp, moral tale. The Book of Esther plays out not in some fairy-tale world, but right in the core of an empire obsessed with structure, ranks, and laws nobody could question. That’s where Haman shows up, a guy so drunk on being close to the top that he thinks he can rewrite the world. His plan for genocide wasn’t some wild rant from a lunatic. It got written up, signed off, stamped, and sent out with all the cold precision of government paperwork.

It was all official. All legal.

And completely wrong.

That’s the part that hits hardest, I........

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