The traditional tomb of Mordechai and Esther in Iran (Persia in ancient times) has been damaged by Iraqi bombings, and the ancient Persian town of Shushan, scene of the Purim story, has been almost completely destroyed in the Gulf war, according to a report in Thursday’s issue of the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem weekly Erev Shabbat.
The newspaper’s correspondent, reporting from Cairo, quotes an Egyptian source who often travels to Iran and is familiar with the tomb in Hamadan, a site venerated by Jews and Moslems alike. According to the Egyptian informant, an Iraqi bomb which fell near the tomb caused the collapse of some of its internal structure.
Despite the damage, the informant said, pilgrims continue to visit the shrine. Whereas formerly the pilgrims were mainly Jewish, they are now almost entirely elderly Moslems. The report says that the shrine is now endangered by the open antagonism of young Shiites towards anything Jewish.
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