Contemporary rabbinic views on social pressure to get people to do Mitzvoth

Question

Background

While on vacation recently, I was walking down the street with a newly acquainted co-traveler, when we were approached by a young Lubavitch Yeshivah student encouraging Jewish men to lay Tefillin. While this is not unusual, the student seemed intent on getting this person to put on Tefillin, and persisted in "encouraging" (really more like badgering and harrassing - much more than I expected to see or have seen before) after he'd declined more than once. But what struck me even more, was that the student then turned to me, after his own prodding had failed, and asked me to encourage my new acquaintance in this effort. Then, after I responded, "to each his own," (really in order to diffuse the situation and not because I am against Kiruv), the student looked betrayed.

Ultimately, I don't think the student engaged in a successful strategy, nor was his tact very pleasant. But the fact that he then asked me to pressure someone to do what he wanted him to do, despite the fact that the subject had already expressed disinterest and even discomfort, surprised me greatly.

Question

In an age in which personal boundaries are regularly blurred (see social media, for example), religious freedom is a political wedge issue, and news coverage about bullying and peer pressure is nonstop, what do contemporary rabbinic leaders say about exerting social pressure on others to observe Mitzvoth?

Answer 1

Not a contemporary source, and not discussing social pressure, but in Ketubot 86A-86B it discusses pressuring someone to fulfill a positive commandment:

א"ל תנינא במה דברים אמורים במצות לא תעשה אבל במצות עשה כגון שאומרין לו עשה סוכה ואינו עושה לולב ואינו עושה מכין אותו עד שתצא נפשו

(R' Pappa) said to (R' Kahana), "We learned that discussion was only regarding a negative commandment. However, when it comes to a positive commandment such as telling someone to make a Sukkah or Lulav and he refuses, He may be hit (by Beit Din) until his soul leaves his body.

If R' Pappa didn't mind physical coercion, I doubt he would balk at social pressure.

Answer 2

In response to Seth's request above and apologising that Rambam may not be classified as a "contemporary rabbinic leader":

Deep down a person wants to keep the Torah. See this explanation quoted below.

The Rambam (Hilchos Gittin) also points out that deep down inside, a person wants to do what the Torah wants, despite what he might say to the contrary.

In Hilchos Gittin (1:1) the Rambam states that "“If a person is forced to give a divorce it is invalid. Even if he was forced to say "I want" it's nevertheless considered forced and is invalid."

The Rambam later on (2:20) says that "If however a person is halachically required to divorce his wife (e. g. she committed adultery) and he refuses to divorce her, then beis din can use physical force. They hit him until he says "I want" and then the divorce is valid."

The Rambam asks why isn't this considered forced and invalid?

He explains, "One is not considered forced unless it is to do something that he is not required by the Torah... However, one who's Yetzer Haro is overpowering him not to do a Mitzvah or to do an aveirah and he is forced to do the Mitzvah or not to do the aveirah is not considered forced. Rather he wanted to force himself with his evil views to do the opposite.

Therefore, this fellow who (is obligated but) doesn't want to divorce his wife, he (really) wants to be part of Klal Yisroel - he wants to do all the Mitzvos and refrain from the aveiros and it's just his Yetzer Haro which is overpowering him. When he is hit till his Yetzer Haro is weakened (knocked out of him) and he says "I want" that is considered divorcing with his volition."

The conditions of this case are very different (eg there is no-one other than the subject affected by his decision and there may be an issue of embarrassing a fellow-Jew in public) but it could be that social pressure is really no different and if pressured in the right way, this person might say about putting on tefillin "I want".