Rabbi Yehuda Gerami, the Chief Rabbi of Iran Davened Mincha and Maariv and read Megillas Esther this evening at the site believed to be the kever of Mordechai and Esther in Hamadan, Iran. Young Iranian yeshiva students travelled with with Rabbi Gerami to the Kever. Attached video footage taken for YWN shows the Rabbi and his students, some of whom are training to become rabbinical judges and rabbis, danceing outside the Kever before Mincha. After Mincha, they Davened maariv, followed by Kreiyas Megillah in a nearby Shul next to the Kever. They then broke their fast, and began the journey back to Tehran. Despite geopolitical tensions, the Iranian regime continues to preserve the kever due to its historical significance. Mordechai and Esther, considered figures of Persian royalty, are recognized as part of the nation’s cultural and historical heritage. The Iranian government, which has a vested interest in maintaining historical sites, considers the kever an important part of Persian civilization. The Megillah leining at the kever underscores the continued presence – albeit a small one – of Jewish life in Iran, home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, and the very land where the Purim neis unfolded. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)