The Book of Esther is a literary masterpiece, a theological puzzle, and the world's greatest inversion narrative. We read it like one.
The World of Shushan
Walk the palace halls. Map the 127 provinces. Meet the characters as they actually were — complex, political, and unforgettable.
The Living Tradition
From Tehran to Toronto, Buenos Aires to Brooklyn — how Jews around the world celebrate the day that everything inverted.
"In the Purim story, everything inverts. The most dangerous night becomes the most celebrated morning. Hiddenness becomes revelation."
— THE V'NAHAFOCH HU PRINCIPLE · THE HEART OF THIS SITE
EXPLORE
Four Ways In
The Megillah as Literature
Character studies that read like profiles in a great magazine. Literary analysis of the Book of Esther's hidden structure. Scene-by-scene geography of the palace. The remarkable fact that God's name never appears — yet the text hums with divine orchestration.
Read the Story →
Persian Heritage & Aesthetics
Achaemenid architecture. The Persian garden as the original paradise. The poetry of Hafez as companion to the Megillah. Saffron, rosewater, and pomegranate as culinary theology. A civilization that gave the world the word "paradise" — and deserves to be treated accordingly.
Enter the Palace →
The Purim Table
Hamantaschen from six continents. The Persian-Jewish feast as it was eaten in Shushan and as it is made today from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv. Recipes, traditions, and the customs that keep this story tasting alive.
Come to the Table →
The V'Nahafoch Hu Files
A recurring series on civilizational inversions — moments in Jewish and Persian history when darkness became dawn, when the expected was upended, when the gallows became a gift. History as it actually moves: in arcs, not headlines.
Read the Inversions →
THE WORLD OF SHUSHAN
127 Provinces. One Palace. One Story That Changed Everything.
The Megillah opens with a feast that lasted 180 days — hosted by King Ahasuerus in Shushan, capital of an empire stretching from India to Ethiopia. This was not a fairy tale backdrop. It was the most powerful court in the world. And somewhere inside it, a Jewish woman named Esther was about to change the course of history.
127
Provinces
of the Achaemenid Empire — and every one of them matters to this story
Every week, The Scroll delivers one beautifully written piece — a character study, a cultural deep dive, a recipe, a historical inversion — directly to your inbox. No noise. No news cycle. Just depth.
"I am Cyrus, King of the World... I have freed all slaves and improved the conditions of all peoples."
— The Cyrus Cylinder, 539 BCE
The world's first human rights proclamation
The King Who Sent the Jews Home
Long before Esther's story, there was Cyrus. The Achaemenid king who conquered Babylon and immediately freed every captive people — including the Jews. Who sent them home to rebuild their Temple. Who governed 127 provinces not with fear, but with a philosophy of dignity.
The Hebrew Bible calls him mashiach — anointed one. The United Nations keeps a replica of his cylinder at its New York headquarters.
He is our civilizational north star. The standard against which we measure governance, storytelling, and every sentence we publish.
Read the Cyrus Story →
THE SISTER SITE
When the Doors of Persia Reopen, You'll Already Know Where You're Going.
VisitShushan.com is the luxury destination guide for the Persian world — its ancient wonders, its living culture, and a coming era of openness. The feast has been two millennia in preparation. The itinerary is nearly written.
The Story Belongs to Everyone Who Has Ever Told It
From synagogue classrooms in Manhattan to Shabbat tables in Tehran in living memory — the Purim story is the most democratically told story in Jewish life. Everyone who reads the Megillah is a narrator. We are simply the platform.
"I've celebrated Purim my whole life and never thought about what Shushan actually looked like. This changed that."
— Reader, New York
"As a Persian Jew, finding a site that treats our heritage with this level of sophistication means everything."
— Reader, Los Angeles
"The Cyrus piece made me cry. I didn't expect that from a Purim website."
— Reader, Jerusalem
The Feast Has Been 2,500 Years in Preparation. You Are Just in Time.
Join The Scroll. Explore the palace. Come to the table.