In the epilogue of his work “A History of the Jews”, Paul Johnson writes, among other thoughts:

“There is nothing that can properly be called providence. Nevertheless, human confidence in historical dynamics, if intense and sufficiently tenacious, is in itself a force that presses upon the course of events and propels them. The Jews have believed that they were a special people, and they have believed it with such unanimity and passion and for such a prolonged period that they have become so. They have had a role because they created one for themselves.”

This closing passage, as quoted above, has always lingered with me. My attempt to paraphrase his idea would be something like this: Jewish history records Jewish self-perception from Antiquity to the present day. The facts exist, but they are secondary; the ultimate aim is to explain the meaning of our existence. We are our history, even if we neglected writing that genre for two thousand years. As soon as we had the opportunity, we began writing it again. That is what we are doing now.

The coincidence of the elimination of Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran (formerly Persia) with the celebration of Purim on the Hebrew calendar—when the death of the “wicked” Haman and the salvation of the Persian Jews........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)