Q&A: The Messiah’s Religious Coercion
The Messiah’s Religious Coercion
Question
“And if a king from the house of David arises, immersed in Torah and occupied with the commandments like David his ancestor, in accordance with the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, and he compels all Israel to follow it and to strengthen its observance…”
Is the intent of the word “compels” that the Messiah will force secular Jews to observe the commandments? It seems that Maimonides supports religious coercion.
Answer
For that you don’t need this Maimonides. In Jewish law there is a rule of coercion regarding the commandments according to all halakhic decisors. The question is whether coercion is meant for secular Jews or for believing transgressors. In my opinion, the latter is correct. Also, concepts of coercion have to be judged according to the circumstances prevailing at the time. Coercion today is neither effective nor proper, even if in the past it was different.
The law of coercing commandment observance can certainly be understood as applying specifically to believing transgressors. But from this particular Maimonides we see: “he compels all Israel to follow it.”