Special Episode: For Such a Time as This: Purim, Persia, and the Iran War

Unpacking Israeli History

Unpacked

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2026

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Missiles in the sky. Purim on the calendar. As Israel confronts Iran, Noam steps back from the headlines and turns to the Book of Esther, a story of genocide threatened, courage summoned, and history reversed at just the right moment. From ancient Persia to October 7th, Jewish history has followed a pattern: catastrophe, response, rebuilding. This episode is not a news update. It is a reflection on timing, resilience, unity, and what it means to live through history. Do we respond with sackcloth, or with action? For such a time as this. To sponsor an episode or to be in touch, please email noam@unpacked.media. Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount. Check out this episode on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand .------------------- For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jewish History Nerds⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Soulful Jewish Living⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stars of David with Elon Gold ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wondering Jews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Norm Weissman, and this is Unpacking Israeli History, the podcast that takes a deep dive into some of the most intense,
0:06.2	historically fascinating and often misunderstood events and stories linked to Israeli history.
0:12.9	Before we start, one more thing, Unpacking Israeli History is on Instagram, on YouTube, TikTok, all the different places.
0:19.5	Just search Unpacking Israeli, and follow or subscribe.
0:23.3	Okay.
0:24.2	Yala.
0:24.9	Let's do this.
0:28.2	We, the people of Israel, are prepared and anxious to meet the representatives of our neighbors without any preconditions.
0:46.3	There are people in Israel and elsewhere say it's impossible to make peace between the Arabs and Israel or the Jewish people.
0:55.6	I think they're home.
1:00.3	Eight months ago, when Israel first struck Iran in Operation Rising Lion, I shared the following
1:06.6	reflection. Living through history can be terrifying. It means sitting in a bomb shelter for hours
1:13.3	on end listening to the impact of ICBMs whistling through the air from nearly 1,000 miles away
1:19.3	sent by a government that is considered tyrannical by many that has no problem murdering its own people,
1:26.2	an even less problem murdering you.
1:28.5	It means turning on your phone after a Jewish holiday and seeing that all your worst nightmares have come to life.
1:36.0	That the massive terrorist attack you heard about in synagogue that morning didn't kill 10 people or 30 or 100,
1:42.0	that instead more than a thousand Israelis are dead, that hundreds more
1:45.8	have been dragged into captivity, and everything you knew about yourself and your Judaism and your
1:50.2	Zionism has been shaken to the core. Look, I still believe that. People I love are still running
1:57.7	in and out of bomb shelters. People, I don't know, are being displaced
2:01.5	or maimed or killed all over the Middle East. And when I'm not glued to X or Instagram or
	...

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