He shall bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, voluntarily, before Hashem (Vayikra 1:3)

Well, the title almost sounds like Star Wars, but it actually has nothing to do with Star Wars…

Rashi points out that a person cannot be forced to bring an offering because he needs to bring it on his own free will. But, a court can coerce him to bring an offering. They can beat him until he finally does what is correct.

So, are we allowed to force him or not? The answer is the court can coerce the person because every person internally knows what is right and what is wrong. The court can force him because the person really wants to do what is right and sometimes needs to be reminded of this (sometimes the reminder hurts a little more than other times). But everyone knows internally what is the right thing to do – the Yetzer Hara sometimes gets in the way though.

Our Sages tell us if the Torah was not given, we could have learned proper behaviors by watching the animals. We would have learned modesty from a cat and not to commit theft from an ant. But, my Rav pointed out that there are many animals which behave improperly. The lion rips apart its prey. The bear claws at others. Wouldn’t we learn from these also?

The answer is that every person is born knowing right from wrong. Sometimes we get confused and due to desires we get blinded. We sometimes behave improperly, but internally, we all know what is correct and what isn’t. That is why we would only learn positive character traits from the animals. And this is why the court can force a person to do something that is voluntary. It is because people really know what is right.

Good Shabbos!
-y.e.s.
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