And bad for the world. Here, the Mishnah is going to talk about the punishment of the Ben Sorer UMoreh (wayward and rebellious son), and why we treat him so severely, much more than a normal case of somebody who steals. The Mishnah says: The Ben Sorer UMoreh is judged based on what he is going to do later in life. At this young age, he is stealing and is involved in very physical activities: drinking wine and eating meat. He is going down a path where he is probably going to steal badly from people and then eventually commit murder. Therefore, the Torah says: Let him die now while he is innocent, and not let him die later, when he is guilty of committing murder or all of these very bad things—the different crimes that he may do. We are talking about somebody who was warned and repeated it over and over again. He was eventually punished with Malkot; he was given lashes. He stole again from his father, and eventually his father’s money is going to run out. He will not be able to steal anymore, so he will steal from other people. Then he may encounter somebody who is trying to stop him, and he is going to kill them because he is so addicted to his vice of meat and wine. So therefore the Torah says, therefore we say: Let him die now, before he has that negative impact on the world through theft and murder. He will be innocent, and that will be the end of the situation. When a wicked person dies, it is beneficial to them because they will not commit any more Averot, any more sins, and it is also beneficial to the world because they will not have the ability to hurt other people. When these reshaim (wicked people) are gone—
When a righteous person dies, it is bad for them because they were accumulating a tremendous amount of mitzvot (commandments) through learning and through actually doing mitzvot. It is bad for the world because the tzadikim (righteous people) protect their generation and are also the leaders of the generation, giving Mussar (ethical instruction) and giving hadracha, guidance to people on how to live their lives.
The Mishnah continues to talk about things that are good for the wicked and bad for the righteous. Wine and sleep among wicked people, where the sleep comes from wine, are considered beneficial to them and also beneficial to the world. They enjoy it, and it is also beneficial to the world because when they are drunk or sleeping, they are sort of out of it. They do not have the ability to have that negative effect or to hurt other people. But wine and sleep for the tzadikim, for the righteous, are bad for them and bad for the world. They cannot involve themselves in Talmud Torah (Torah learning) when they are drunk or sleeping. And because of that, the world does not experience the effect of their Torah learning. The world runs by Torah. So if there is no Torah learning from these tzadikim, it affects the world in a negative sense. We are talking here about a type of sleep that is not normal: a sleep where somebody gets very drunk and sort of passes out for a long time. But a normal type of sleep would be good and normal.
If wicked people are scattered all over the place, it is beneficial for them and also for the world because when these people are not together, when they are separate, they cannot plan and plot all their crimes, and they cannot help each other commit crimes. So they are not sinning, or they are sinning a little bit less. Also, the world is not experiencing the effect of them all being joined together and committing these crimes as one. But if the tzadikim are scattered all over the place, it is bad for them and also bad for the world when they are not together, when the tzadikim are not joined as one. They cannot help each other. They cannot study Torah together. This limits the good that they could do, and therefore it is also bad for the world. The opposite is true as well. The gathering of wicked people is bad for them because they are going to do more bad and therefore have more Averot, and it is bad for the world because their effect on the world is also going to be worse. But the gathering of the tzadikim together is beneficial for them and beneficial to the world.
If quiet, peace, and serenity are bad for wicked people and bad for the world because they are going to use the opportunity to do Averot and harm others when there is nothing distracting them, when there is nothing occupying people, as when there is peace and everyone is calm, then the reshaim are going to take advantage of that opportunity and sin and harm others. But peace and serenity for the tzadikim are beneficial to them and also beneficial to the world because they can use the time right. They can study Torah, and they are going to do mitzvot.