Religious coercion of the Messiah King
“And if a king arises from the house of David, who meditates on the Torah and practices the commandments like David his father, according to the Torah that is written and oral, and who forces all Israel to follow it and to strengthen it in every way…”
Does the word ‘ychuf’ mean that the Messianic King will force the secular to observe the commandments? It seems that the Rambam supports religious coercion.
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0 Answers
For this, this Maimonides is not needed. In Halacha, there is a law of coercion for the mitzvot according to all the poskim. The question is whether coercion is intended for secular people or for believing criminals. In my opinion, the latter is correct. Moreover, concepts of coercion should be judged according to the circumstances prevailing at the time. Coercion today is neither useful nor correct, even if it was different in the past.
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The law of forcing a commandment can certainly be applied specifically to believing criminals. However, from the current Rambam we see that “it will be enforced upon all Israel.”
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