DEUT297 … the rabbinic rationale for the validation of a get given under duress is the assumption that in reality every Jew wants not only "to obey the words of the wise," but above all "to do that which is good and upright in the sight of the Lord" [this verse]. Though conditions beyond our control make it impossible for us in the United States to force a man to give a get, these conditions do not absolve him from his obligation "to do that which is good and upright in the eyes of the Lord." Furthermore, not only do the Rabbis sanction the use of compulsion in order that a man do the right thing, but they even explain the harsh biblical law regarding the "rebellious son" as a law in the interest of the son, for if he were permitted to live he would end up as a murderer. Sanhedrin 71b. (See also ibid., 73a; Tosafot on lehazilo b'nafsho, which Tosafot says may be interpreted to mean that you are permitted to kill a man who is pursuing another man, not because you are thereby saving his victim, but because you are preventing the pursuer from committing a mortal sin.) In both instances the law acts in order to prevent one from doing evil, more particularly from doing harm to another human being. In both instances the action of the law is considered a zkhut, "to the advantage" of the person who is ostensibly being punished by the law.
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