If you have as long a history as the Jews, it is not difficult to find parallels between past events and later ones. But on closer inspection, it becomes apparent that it is not Judaism’s uninterrupted existence that drives the fascination with historical parallels; it is the fascination with historical parallels that has driven Judaism’s uninterrupted existence.

For centuries, Jews survived by reading the present through the lens of biblical archetypes. The question is: is this sustainable? Is it even desirable? And more importantly — does this habit still serve us in a sovereign Jewish state?

I ask this specifically now because I feel that if one more Jew whines that the current military operations against Iran are an echo of the events commemorated and celebrated during the Jewish festival of Purim, which this year fell on the evening of March 2, I may very well eat my sheitel.

Just so we’re clear, by “historical parallels” I am referring to interpretations of later experiences of the Jewish people as repetitions or echoes of earlier biblical archetypes. Examples of such parallels include:

The Book of Genesis recounts how an Egyptian Pharaoh is afflicted with disease after taking the wife of Abraham, and ultimately sends the patriarch away laden with precious gifts. Later, in the Book of Exodus, another Pharaoh violates moral law, suffers plagues, and finally expels the Hebrews, who take Egyptian gold with them.

The biblical description of Ishmael as one destined to “live by the sword,” and his fraught relationship with Isaac, is frequently invoked as a........

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