Rashi tells us that the mevareich shem Hashem discussed at the end of the parsha took place at the same time as the episode of the mekoshesh, yet they were each locked up in separate jail cells:
ויניחוהו – לבדו, ולא הניחו המקושש עמו, ששניהם היו בפרק אחד, ויודעין היו שהמקושש במיתה, שנאמר: מחלליה מות יומת (שמות ל״א:י״ד). אבל לא פורש להם באיזו מיתה, לכך נאמר בו: לא פורש מה יעשה לו (במדבר ט״ו:ל״ד). אבל במקלל הוא אומר לפרוש להם, שלא היו יודעין אם חייב מיתהא אם לאו.
What was the point of keeping them apart? Oznayim laTorah has an amazing answer.
Rashi makes a point of telling us that the fate of the mekoshesh was known. He was going to get some form of misa, the only question was what form.
The fate of the mevareich, on the other hand, was in doubt; it was not clear yet that he would in fact get misa.
Imagine what would happen if these two convicts shared the same death row cell. Comrades in arms! Yet what if the mevareich were to walk out of that jail cell scot free while the mekoshesh remained, doomed to await his inevitable death sentence? Could there be anything more galling than seeing that comrade in arms, someone in the same boat, in the same cell, walk away free knowing that you on the other hand face certain death? It would be like rubbing salt in the wound.
Therefore, the Torah mandated that they be kept apart.
We all know that we have to be respectful of other people's feelings, but who are we talking about here? We are talking about someone sitting on death row, someone who was mechalel shabbos the very first shabbos in the desert. Who cares whether he suffers a little more or not? Yet af al pi kein, we have to care...
(The gemara in a few places learns some of the halachos of how misas beis din is carried out from the din of v'ahavta l'reiacha kamocha, which requires giving a respectful death even to those who are guilty of capital offenses. Even if someone is guilty of the most heinous crime, we don't rob them completely of dignity.)
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