“Never again is now.”
Some women step into courage because of what they believe. Others step into courage because of what they have lived.
This week’s Esther is both.
Her name is Dr. Sheila Nazarian.
She is an Iranian-born Jewish surgeon who escaped the Islamic Republic as a child and has spent the last year speaking truth that few dare to say out loud.
When Hamas unleashed the horrors of October 7, Dr. Nazarian did not stay quiet. She went straight to her social platforms, her media contacts, and her international audience to do something she has spent her entire life preparing for: warn the world about Islamic extremism and defend the Jewish people with clarity and conviction.
She lost followers. She lost business. She was targeted with online hate and threats.
Still she kept speaking.
“We know what happens when the world is silent. Never again is now.”
Dr. Nazarian’s courage is rooted in her own childhood. Her family fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution, when Jews were being persecuted, stripped of rights, and pushed into hiding. She has said in interviews that her earliest memories include fear of Islamic rule and the knowledge that Jews were not safe.
That history lives inside her.
It is why she recognizes the threat of radical Islam more clearly than most Westerners.
In interview after interview, she tells audiences that what happened on October 7 was not an accident. It was not chaos. It was not a misunderstanding. It was the same ideology that drove Jews out of Iran, that drives terror in Gaza and Lebanon, and that has fueled antisemitism for centuries.
She says plainly:
“Iran is the head of the snake. Hamas is one arm of the regime. Hezbollah is the other. If you do not confront the root, you will never have peace.”
She is not a politician.
She is not a rabbi.
She is not a government envoy.
She is a mother, a surgeon, and an immigrant who remembers what it was like when the world looked away from Jewish suffering.
On NewsNation and CNN, she confronted commentators who tried to frame Israel as the aggressor.
On Instagram she posted daily updates, calling out lies, explaining history, and urging her audience to look evil in the face and name it.
She spoke not with anger, but with that unmistakable tone of someone who knows what radical Islam does to women, minorities, and dissidents.
Her voice penetrates the noise because it carries the weight of lived truth.
She warns that the same ideology that forced her family to flee Iran is now celebrated in Western streets and universities. She calls out the chants of “Globalize the Intifada” and “From the river to the sea” for what they are: not political slogans, but eliminationist threats against the Jewish people.
She has said:
“People think this is far away. It is not. Iran is here. Radical Islam is here. And if we cannot stand up for the Jewish people, we will not be able to stand up for anyone else.”
This is why she is our Esther of the Week.
Her story echoes Esther’s. She has influence she did not ask for and a platform she did not expect. But she uses it to protect her people. She steps into danger with wisdom, conviction, and clarity.
“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”
Esther 4:14, NIV
Dr. Nazarian has been given a voice and she is using it for the sake of Israel, the Jewish people, and the truth.
May more women rise with this kind of courage.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, thank You for the boldness of Dr. Sheila Nazarian. Strengthen her voice. Protect her family. Guard her mind and heart as she speaks truth in dangerous spaces. Empower us as Christian women to stand with Israel, confront lies, and shine Your light in a darkening world. Make us faithful Esthers, willing to speak when You call us to speak. Amen.
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