It’s obvious to all of us that we are not allowed to bow down to an Image. However, what about bowing down to evil?
One of the most prominent lessons of Purim for me, is that of Mordechai refusing to bow down to Haman, even though everyone else, including the Jewish people, were doing so, and even though the judges of Israel of that time warned him, saying, “Know that you will cause us to fall at the sword” (Yalkut Shimoni, Esther 1054).
While others reasoned that bowing down to Haman was permitted, since bowing down to a man in high office is not forbidden according to Jewish law, Mordechai looked a bit more deeply into the situation and came to a different conclusion. Mordechai concluded that bowing down to Haman was idol worship, a transgression for which one must allow himself to be killed rather than carry out (Sanhedrin 74a).
Sure enough, the gemara in Megillah 12a agrees with Mordechai’s reasoning, attributing the decree of the extermination of the Jewish people in that generation to their having bowed down “to the image”. Rashi actually explains that this was a two-part sin. The decree was in fact issued in the days of Nebuchadnetzar’s generation when the Jews bowed down to Nebuchadnetzar’s image. Decades later, when they once again bowed down to an image in the days of Haman, God sealed their punishment for the two sins.
Only Mordechai stood his ground in the face of all other Jews bowing down, and despite other sages of the generation warning him not to have a standoff with Haman. Just imagine that happening today! One Torah authority going against what all other Jewish people and Torah authorities say and do. Who would listen to the lone Torah authority? Pretty scary! Well, that’s what Mordechai did and much more, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.
While others reasoned that bowing down to Haman was permitted, Mordechai looked a bit more deeply into the situation and came to a different conclusion!
So where am I going with this? I’d like to look at this issue of bowing down in a more general perspective, so to speak. What do I mean? It’s obvious to all of us that we are not allowed to bow down to an Image. However, what about bowing down to evil? What about bowing down to something that you intuitively feel is wrong? What about bowing down to something that you are absolutely sure is wrong, yet everyone else you know bows down to it? What I mean by bowing down in this respect is to acquiesce to something.
So, for example, years ago we had a four year old in kindergarten when halfway through the year, we learned that his teacher was being quite verbally abusive and scary to the children. We immediately called the school and demanded that the teacher be fired. The school’s eventual answer was that we are correct in our concern and demand, but they can only let the teacher go at the end of the year. So, the children will have to remain with that teacher for five more months.
We were dismayed and frustrated with the school’s decision but amazingly, and I am ashamed to admit this, we did not see any other option but to leave him in the kindergarten. We could have kept him home; we could have found another kindergarten for him. This literally did not occur to us.
You know what? This was bowing down to very bad circumstances as well as to seemingly no other options instead of doing the right thing – God’s will: using our mind to assess the situation for what it is – a situation that must be stopped immediately and at all costs, and then use our solutioning and creative abilities in order to figure out how to protect our four year old.
Another example: I have had several friends over the last twenty years, whose kids were bullied in school and no matter what they did, the situation did not improve. They tried talking to the school numerous times, getting therapy for their child, looking for an alternate school, etc. Nothing worked. Their child continued to be bullied. And they ended up leaving the child in this situation, reasoning that they’ve tried everything and there is nothing else to do.
What about bowing down to very bad circumstances?…
Nothing to do? How about pulling the child out of this ongoing abusive situation at all costs? If an alternate school is not religious enough, or academic enough – is a good enough reason to let the child continue to be abused? If you cannot keep the child at home until you figure out a solution because you have to go to work, is that a good enough reason? Again, acquiescing to an abusive situation, this time due to having difficulty finding the right alternative. Do we really think this is okay with Hashem?
Food for thought.
The examples are endless: I know many women who have serious ongoing health issues such as getting strep or UTI several times a year or being 50 lbs. overweight. Yet they do not have time to make healthier meals, rest more and exercise due to their work schedule. So, they acquiesce to the situation, letting their health continually deteriorate.
At the expense of a job? What are we thinking here? What is more important to Hashem – our health or our job? It’s our health in case you were wondering. Life comes before anything else. We are commanded to choose life and we are allowed to even break Shabbos, for a life and death situation. Clearly, remaining alive and well is of utmost priority to Hashem. But we put our jobs ahead of taking care of our health. Does that make any sense?
You know what we do? We bow down to fear. Fear of leaving a job, fear of putting a child in a school that’s going to be looked down upon by our friends and neighbors, fear of doing something that no one else seems to be doing. On and on it goes. In the days of Purim, no excuses helped for their bowing down, and believe me they had plenty of very good excuses. Hashem literally decreed DEATH upon the Jewish Nation, sending all future generations a critical message: it is not Hashem’s will for you to bow down to wrong or evil no matter what the circumstances or excuse may be. Stand up to evil, just like Mordechai did, and Hashem will surely bring you your salvation. It’s not rocket science! Stick with Hashem – He’s got you covered!