אין מרדכי כורע ומשתחוה לו
“Mordechai did not bow down nor prostrate himself to him.” (Esther 3:5)
The word: לו – “to him”, seems superfluous: To whom else was Mordechai expected to bow down to?
Reb Yonason Eibshitz zt”l (Yaaras Devash Vol. 2, 80b) and the Manos HaLevi explain: Mordechai was a very humble person who honored everyone. When he would meet someone on the street, he would bow to him and greet him cordially. The only one to whom he refused to do this, was Haman and he would not even respond if Haman greeted him.
Haman wore a large idol, and the people interpreted Mordechai’s refusal to bow down as refusal to bow to it. Haman was very eager to see Mordechai bow to him, so he resolved to remove the idol when Mordechai would come into his presence. Nevertheless, Mordechai still refused to bow. When Haman saw that Mordechai was not bowing to him, he realized that Mordechai refused to be subordinate to him and that it had nothing to do with the idol. So, he became filled with rage.
Mordechai refused to bow to Haman even when he removed the idol because he feared that it would be misleading to the Jews. They might not distinguish and conclude from his action that it was permissible to bow to Haman even when he wore the idol.
