Humiliation as Deterrence

Well, last week, I suggested that Khameini and his leadership might be dead by Purim, and here we are, the day after Purim in Jerusalem and… he and his buddies are gone.

As you know, we conducted a pre-emptive attack on Shabbat and in the initial moments, Khameinei was eliminated along with a large number of the senior regime leadership. In the resulting chaos, the IRGC are trying to respond in some way by firing whatever missiles they have left.

I’m not a prophet… just a student of Torah and Jewish history.

IN THE BOMB SHELTER

Yesterday, on Purim, our reading of the Megillah, (Book of Esther) took place in the underground parking lot of our building which doubles as a bomb shelter to protect us from incoming Iranian missiles.

In the story, the evil Haman had by lottery, chosen the 13th of the month of Adar to destroy all the Jews in the Persian empire by Royal Decree.

After a miraculous turnabout, Queen Esther exposed Haman’s plot to annihilate her people. According to Persian law, the King was infallible and could not reverse a decree.

So Esther and Mordechai convinced the King to send out an ADDITIONAL decree, to allow the Jews to defend themselves on that day.

PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE

So the Jews made a pre-emptive strike in those days and 500 leaders of the plot and the 10 sons of Haman were killed on that day in the capital city.

And here is where it gets interesting. After the elimination of the leadership of the plan to kill the Jews, Achashverosh asks Esther what he can do for her… anything up to half the kingdom.

Esther asks the King to hang the dead bodies of the sons of Haman in public on the same gallows Haman was executed (which he had prepared for Mordechai the Jew).

The king agrees. Their bodies are displayed in the capital city of Shushan (ancient Susa, near modern southwest Iran).

Why this extra step? Traditional Jewish commentaries explain it wasn’t about needless cruelty.

It was strategic: to publicly demonstrate the king’s full backing for what had happened, to erase any remnant of Haman’s influence, and to send a clear message across the empire — “Don’t try this again.”

The public display instilled fear in potential enemies and ensured lasting security for the Jewish people. The threat wasn’t just defeated; its legacy was visibly dismantled so no one would dare revive it.

This is the pattern set for us as a Nation. When a descendant of Amalek rises up to destroy us, we need to fast, pray, put our destiny in the Hands of the Almighty and then:

• attack pre-emptively those who plot to kill us
• and humiliate them with such a decisive victory so as to deter anyone else in the future

All eyes on Iran. You are watching biblical history unfold in real time.