Editorial Note from BCTC
As Purim is being celebrated this week, Jews around the world are reading the story of Queen Esther—one of the most powerful narratives in Jewish history about courage, identity, and standing up against a genocidal threat in ancient Persia.
At Building Community Thru Conversation (BCTC), we believe that stories—ancient and modern—can open meaningful conversations about freedom, responsibility, and the courage to confront hatred.
The essay below reflects the personal perspective of its author and is shared here as part of BCTC’s commitment to encouraging thoughtful conversation and reflection.
Written by Leora Blumberg, the piece reflects on a striking contemporary image: Jewish women serving as fighter pilots in the Israeli Air Force. Her essay draws a connection between the ancient story of Esther and the realities unfolding today in the Middle East, highlighting the contrast between societies that restrict women’s freedoms and those that empower women to lead and defend their communities.
Whether one reads it as commentary, symbolism, or reflection, the piece invites a timely conversation during the days when the story of Esther is being retold.
The Sky-High Irony of the New Esther
By: Leora Blumberg
There is a delicious, searing irony currently unfolding in the skies over the Middle East—one that the medievalists in Tehran must find particularly galling. As the Islamic Republic continues its grim, centuries-old obsession with policing the length of a woman’s headscarf and the limits of her liberty, the Israeli Air Force has provided a masterclass in the ultimate form of female empowerment.
In the recent sorties against the International Revolutionary Guard Corps – IRGC’s military infrastructure, the cockpits of Israel’s fighter planes were not occupied solely by the “sons of Zion,” but by their daughters. These women—trained to the highest standards of modern warfare, operating some of the most sophisticated machinery ever devised—did not merely fly missions; they delivered a kinetic refutation of everything the Ayatollahs stand for.
Consider the optics, which in this region are often as potent as the munitions themselves. On one side, you have a regime that views women as legal minors, “property” to be shielded or beaten into submission by “Morality Police.” On the other, you have a liberal democracy where a woman can command a multi-million dollar fighter jet, cross a thousand miles of hostile airspace, and dismantle the military apparatus of her people’s sworn enemy before returning home to a society that treats her as a peer.
This is the “Esther Moment” updated for the supersonic age. In the biblical account, a single woman navigated the treacherous corridors of Persian power to thwart a genocidal decree. Today, the “Modern Esthers” don’t need to plead with a king; they take to the air.
There is something profoundly poetic about the fact that the very people the Iranian regime considers “deficient” are the ones now piercing its air defenses. For a leadership that derives its authority from the systematic suppression of the feminine, being struck by female combatants isn’t just a tactical failure—it is a theological and psychological catastrophe. It exposes the utter fragility of a “manly” regime that is terrified of a lock of hair, yet powerless against a woman in an afterburner.
As these pilots bank their jets over the ruins of *Haman’s modern-day successors, the message is clear: You cannot win a war against the future when you are still desperately trying to outrun the seventh century. The roar of those engines isn’t just the sound of Israeli sovereignty; it is the sound of the ultimate “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest, delivered at Mach 2 – supersonic speed.
*Haman is the villain in The Book of Esther who plotted a genocide against all Jewish people
About the Author
Leora Blumberg-Rubinstein has worked across media, technology, and business on three continents. She began at the CNN newsroom in the 1990s after modeling to fund her university education, later helping build the International Sports website and working as a TV anchor. She went on to serve as Head of Content for MSN South Africa before transitioning into technology business development and real estate in New York and Atlanta — a career shaped by adaptability and resilience.
Why Leora Chose to Share Her Voice with BCTC?
Early in her journalism career, Leora experienced bias tied to her Jewish identity when she was sidelined from Middle East reporting. Rather than stepping back, she chose to keep building — and today writes from a place of clarity and conviction. Since October 7, 2023, she has embraced being visibly and vocally Jewish, writing to model courage, identity, and openness for her children and for the broader community through conversations like those fostered by BCTC.
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