ocr: Jews Who Stayed behind Esther 5:0-4:17 "If you remain Silent at this time, reliet and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's ramily will perish. And who <nows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Est. 4:14) Not every Jewish exile took the opportunity to return to the nomeland. Some had put down roots during the half-century of Babylonian Captivity, and when the more tolerant Persian regime took over, many of these decided to stay. Communities of Jews in present-day Traq and Syria still trace their ancestry to this group ...