Rav Sternbuch recently told a secular questioner that the current situation in this country with all the anti-religious legislation is reminiscent of Mordechai who refused to bow down to Homon. On the face of it, it seems difficult to understand why Homon paid any attention to this act on the part of a “mad” tzaddik of a Jew. Why should Homon have cared about it so much that this failure by Mordechai to honor Homon created a desire inside him to annihilate the entire nation of which Mordechai was a representative? The answer is that deep inside Homon knew that Mordechai represented the truth, and he was afraid of it.
Similarly, deep down the secular government knows that we represent the truth, and they cannot abide it. Their reaction is to attempt to cow us into submission, but, with the help of Heaven, they will not succeed.
- From Rabbi Sternbuch’s English Parsha sheet