Sources:
Midrash Konen in Beit ha-Midrash 2:24-39; Midrash Aggadat Bereshit 18a.
284. THE LANDSCAPE OF GEHENNA
Some say that there are coals in Gehenna as big as mountains and as huge as the Dead Sea. So too are there rivers of pitch and sulphur flowing and fuming and seething throughout Gehenna.
Others say that Gehenna is half fire and half ice, and when the sinners escape from the fire, they are tortured by the ice, and when they escape from the ice, the fire burns them.
In many ways Gehenna is a distorted mirror image of Paradise. Just as there are rivers of balsam flowing through heaven, there are rivers of pitch and sulphur flowing in Gehenna. The rivers of balsam are part of the rewards of paradise, while the rivers of pitch and sulphur are part of the punishments of Gehenna.
So too is Gehenna sometimes described as half fire, half ice. Those being punished by the fire try to escape to the ice, but it is so terrible that they run back to the fire, for there is no escape from the punishments of Gehenna.
Sources:
Orhot Hayim; Baraita de-Masekhet Gehinnom in Hesed le-Avraham; Midrash Konen in Beit ha-Midrash 2:24-39.
285. THE SCORPIONS OF GEHENNA
There are seven thousand scorpions in every crevice of Gehenna. Every scorpion has seventy thousand pouches of venom, and from these flow six rivers of deadly poison. When a man comes in contact with that poison, he immediately bursts, and his body is cleft asunder, and he falls dead on his face. Then the avenging angels collect his limbs and revive him and place him on his feet and take their revenge on him all over again.
These deadly scorpions, far more lethal than any found on earth, are one more example of the kinds of punishments of Gehenna, where a sinner can be killed and revived over and over again, so that his suffering continues until his time in Gehenna comes to an end.
Sources:
Baraita de-Masekhet Gehinnom in Hesed le-Avraham.
286. THE BRIDGE OVER GEHENNA
There is a bridge that spans Gehenna. The spirits of the dead have to struggle to cross that bridge. When they are directly over Gehenna, the bridge appears to be no wider than a thread, and some of them lose their balance and tumble into Gehenna, their diminishing screams following them into the abyss.
The tortures of Gehenna are myriad, and nothing is as it seems. Here the spirits of the dead are forced to cross a bridge that seems to be as narrow as a thread and, losing their balance, they fall into the Abyss. The point is that those who receive punishments in Gehenna have nothing they can depend on, and live in constant danger. In a metaphorical sense, the bridge across Gehenna symbolizes the immense difficulty of sinners finding their way out of the punishments of Gehenna.
Sources:
Seder Eliyahu Zuta 21, 76b; B. Eruvin 19a; B. Sukkah 32b; Ms. Oxford Bodleian OR 135, published in “Un Recueil de Contes Juifs Inedits,” edited by Israel Levi, Revue des Etudes Juives, vol. 35 (Paris: 1897).
287. THE DARKNESS OF GEHENNA
The darkness of Gehenna is thick as the wall of a city. Nothing is more terrible than this darkness, as it is said, A land whose light is darkness, all gloom and disarray, whose light is like darkness (Job 10:22). This is the darkness of the plague of darkness, when Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended (Exod. 10:22). Where did that darkness come from? From the darkness of Gehenna.
One of the punishments of Gehenna is a terrible darkness as thick as a wall. Indeed, it was this impenetrable darkness that God drew upon when he brought the plague of darkness to Egypt. Once again, the punishment is intended to fit the crime. Just as the sinners were blind to their sins, so they are punished in Gehenna by a darkness so thick it leaves them lost in blindness.
Sources:
Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Noah 1; Midrash Tanhuma-Yelammedenu, Bo 2; Baraita de-Masekhet Gehinnom in Hesed le-Avraham.
288. THE LIGHT OF GEHENNA
Sometimes a light issues forth from Gehenna into the Garden of Eden. This is a sign that God has accepted the grief of one of the souls that is being punished. The soul’s contrition warrants its entry into the Garden of Eden, where its suffering is transformed into delight.
This myth is in direct contrast to “The Darkness of Gehenna.” It shows that God continues to monitor the grief of the sinners in Gehenna, and that He is prepared at a moment’s notice to accept deeply felt repentance to free those sinners from the punishments of Gehenna. In contrasting Gehenna with the Christian concept of hell, it is important to note that the punishments of hell are supposed to last forever, while the time the soul of a sinner spends being punished in Gehenna is limited to a maximum of twelve months. And ultimately, when the Messiah comes, Gehenna will cease to exist.
Sources:
Zohar 2:211b; Tzidkat ha-Tzaddik 153; Toldot Ya’akov Yosef; Sifram Shel Tzaddikim.
289. THE PUNISHMENT OF KORAH
Once a Bedouin came to Rabbah bar Bar Hannah and offered to show him where Korah and his followers had been swallowed up by the earth. They went there and they saw two cracks in the ground, with smoke coming out of them. Rabbah took a bundle of wool and soaked it in water and put it on the tip of a spear. He then stuck the spear into one of the cracks in the earth. When he took it out, they saw that the wool was scorched by fire. The Bedouin told Rabbah to put his ear to the ground, to hear what Korah and his followers were saying. When Rabbah did, he heard them crying out, “Moses and the Torah are true, and we were liars!” The Bedouin told Rabbah that every thirty days the angel appointed over the sinners of hell brings them to this place, where they are roasted by the fire. And all the while they cry out in regret over what they have done.
This is one of the tall tales attributed to Rabbah bar Bar Hannah found in the Talmud. Here a Bedouin takes him to the place where Korah and his followers were swallowed up by the earth after they rebelled against Moses in Numbers 16:32. The place they fall into is Gehenna, where evil souls are punished. Once a month Gehenna returns to that place. This regularity echoes Rabbah’s tale about the same Bedouin leading him to the Wheel of Heaven, which returns to the same place every 24 hours.
The moral of this myth is quite apparent: Korah and his followers are still crying out in regret for their rebellion against Moses, which will haunt them forever. See “Where Heaven and Earth Meet,” p. 121 and “The Dead of the Desert,” p. 471.
Sources:
B. Bava Batra 74a.
290. THE INHABITANTS OF GEHENNA
The souls of the wicked descend below to Gehenna, as it is said, The spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth (Eccles. 3:21). This includes the utterly wicked in Israel and the wicked among the nations of the earth. Both will go down to Gehenna, as it is said, The wind shall carry them off, and the whirlwind shall scatter them (Isa. 41:16).
This myth answers the question of whether the punishments of Gehenna are limited to Jews, or whether they apply to the wicked of other nations. Here both are described as being punished in Gehenna.
Sources:
Ecclesiastes Rabbah on Ecclesiastes 3:21; Eliyahu Rabbah 18:108-109; Eliyahu Zuta 11:192.
291. THE FATE OF THE SOUL
The souls of the righteous are stored beneath the Throne of Glory, while the souls of the wicked are made to wander, and one angel stands at one end of the world and another at the other end, and they throw the wicked souls to one another, as it is said, He shall sling away the lives of your enemies as from the hollow of a sling (1 Sam. 25:29).
This brief myth presents a stark contrast between the fates of the souls of the righteous and those of the wicked. While those of the righteous are kept close by, beneath God’s throne, those of the wicked experience the punishment of wandering and exile, traditionally the worst possible punishment. This is the same punishment Cain receives when God makes him a ceaseless wanderer on earth (Gen. 4:11). But most startling is the image of the angels standing at each end of the world, throwing the souls of the wicked back and forth. This emphasizes how relentl
ess is the wandering they are condemned to, which takes on characteristics of one of the punishments of Gehenna, Jewish hell. See “The Punishments of Gehenna,” following.
Sources:
B. Shabbat 152b.
292. THE PUNISHMENTS OF GEHENNA
Gehenna, where the souls of the wicked are punished, is ruled by the angel Dumah. Dumah was appointed to rule over the netherworld. Three angels of destruction are at his command. Their names are Mashit, Af, and Hema, and they command many legions of avenging angels. All of Gehenna is filled with their din, and their shouts reach into heaven. That is why the voices of the wicked can barely be heard as they shriek out, and why no one has mercy upon them.
Every night, except the Sabbath, the angels of destruction punish those whose evil deeds were hatched in the dark. There the wicked learn firsthand why the dread of Gehenna is so great.
But when the Sabbath begins, judgment vanishes from the world and the wicked in Gehenna rest. The angels of destruction cease ruling over them from the moment the Sabbath arrives, until the Sabbath comes to an end. Then the wicked are dragged back to the dungeons of Gehenna, where their punishment resumes.
It is said that in the future all the people of Israel will enter Gehenna together with the nations of the world, and the latter will all perish, while Israel will depart from its midst unharmed, as it is said, When you walk through fire, you shall not be scorched; through flame, it shall not burn you (Isa. 43:2).
This myth explains how Gehenna is ruled by the angel Dumah. (Dumah is the Hebrew word for silence and land of death.). Dumah, in turn, commands three forces of angels of destruction, led by three angels, Mashit, Af, and Hema. The myth is offered by way of explanation as to why the phrase “He, in His compassion” is not said on the Sabbath, lest the angels of destruction be stirred up. Nor is it necessary to conclude the Hashkivenu with the blessing “He who protects his people Israel,” because there is no need for protection—the Sabbath itself protects. Instead the blessing used is “He who spreads over us a Tabernacle of Peace,” which is clearly understood to be a reference to the Sabbath.
The myth also emphasizes that even the wicked in Gehenna are freed from their punishments on the Sabbath, which is thus celebrated not only on earth, but also in heaven by God and the angels (see “God Keeps the Sabbath,” p. 314) and even by the wicked being punished in hell.
A few key prooftexts are brought in to substantiate this myth. Concerning those who plot evil in the dark, it is said, Who do their work in dark places (Isa. 29:15). The dread of Gehenna is said to be referred to in the verse Because of terror by night (S. of S. 3:8). The names of the three commanding angels under Dumah are taken from this verse. Rabbi Alexander explained, “The dread of Gehenna is similar to the dread of night” (B. Sanh. 7b).
Sefer Hasidim reports a man riding through the desert who saw by the light of the moon a line of wagons pulled by human beings. He recognized them as people who had died. He asked what they were doing, and they told him that it was the punishment for their sins. For if a person behaved like an animal during his lifetime, he was put to work like an animal in the afterlife.
Sources:
Midrash on Ruth 79b; B. Sanhedrin 94a; Sod ha-Shabbat 9; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 11:5; Sefer Hasidim 169.
Studies:
Hell in Jewish Literature by Samuel J. Fox.
293. THE FATE OF SLANDERERS
What is the fate of slanderers? When slander, spread about the earth, mounts even to the throne of glory, destroying angels descend at God’s command and seize the slanderers and throw them into the furnace of Gehenna.
But Gehenna objects, saying, “The tongue of a slanderer reaches from earth up to the heavens. The entire world cannot stand him. First send your arrows at him, and then I will receive him, as it is said, A warrior’s sharp arrows, with hot coals of broom-wood (Ps. 120:4).” Then those who slander are hung by their tongues and subject to all the tortures that Gehenna has to offer.
The most despicable figures in Gehenna are the slanderers. Not even Gehenna, personified here, can bear their presence. So Gehenna insists that God punish them first, and then Gehenna will receive them, according to the verse A warrior’s sharp arrows, with hot coals of broom-wood (Ps. 120:4). Here the “coals of broom-wood” refers to the punishments of Gehenna. For another example of the personification of Gehenna, see “Gehenna Seething,” p. 238.
Note that the sinners are cast into the furnace of Gehenna, where the hottest flames of Gehenna are burning. This is to demonstrate the seriousness of their sins.
Sources:
Eliyahu Rabbah 18:108
294. SABBATH IN GEHENNA
Even the wicked in Gehenna enjoy a respite on the Sabbath. Every Sabbath eve, when the day becomes sanctified, the angel in charge of souls announces, “Let the punishment of the sinners cease, for the Holy King approaches and the Day is about to be sanctified. He protects all!” Instantly all punishment ceases, and the guilty have a respite. The sinners who observed the Sabbath are led to two mountains of snow, where they remain until the end of the Sabbath, when the angel in charge of the spirits shouts, “All evildoers, back to Gehenna—the Sabbath is over!” and they are thrust back to their former place in hell. Some of them, however, take snow with them to cool them during the six days of the week, but God says to them: “Woe to you who steal even in hell!”
But the fires of Gehenna do not come to a halt for those who never observed the Sabbath. Since they did not observe the Sabbath before, they have no respite. An angel whose name is Santriel, which means “God is my Guardsman,” goes and fetches the body of the sinner from the grave. He brings it to Gehenna before the eyes of the guilty, and they see how it has bred worms. They know the soul of such a sinner has no respite from the fire of Gehenna. And all those guilty who are there surround that body and proclaim over it: “This person is guilty, for he would not regard the honor of his Master, he denied the Holy One, blessed be He, and denied the Torah. Woe to him! It had been better for him never to be created and not to be subjected to this punishment and this disgrace!”
Rabbi Yehudah said: “After the Sabbath goes out the angel comes and takes that body back to its grave, and both the body and the soul are punished, each in its own way.”
And all this takes place while the body is still well preserved. But once the body is decayed, it no longer suffers all these punishments. The guilty ones are punished in their bodies and their souls, each with a suitable punishment, so long as the body in the grave is intact. But when the body breaks down the punishment of the soul ceases. He who must leave Gehenna leaves, and he who must find rest has rest—to each is done what is suitable for him.
So great is the redeeming power of the Sabbath, that even the souls being punished in Gehenna are allowed to rest on the Sabbath, until the close of the Sabbath. As Tola’at Ya’akov puts it, “Din—harsh justice—is banished on the eve of the Sabbath, even from the sinners in Gehenna. For the Sabbath protects the cosmos. But on Saturday night Din is restored to its station. A herald cries out: ‘Let the wicked be in Sheol’” (Ps. 9:18). In addition to a reprieve on the Sabbath, Zohar 2:150b lists further reprieves on new moons and festivals.
For a folktale about Sabbath in Gehenna, see “Three Stars” in Gabriel’s Palace, pp. 227-228. See also “Sabbath in Gehenna” by Isaac Bashevis Singer’s in The Death of Methuselah and Other Stories, pp. 212-219.
Sources:
Pesikta Rabbati 23:8; Orhot Hayim; Zohar 2:151a; Tola’at Ya’akov 58b; Sha’ar ha-Gemul; Nishmat Hayim 1:12, 1:14; Sefer ha-Zikhronot 15:7.
295. GEHENNA SEETHING
Gehenna is seething all the time. God asked, “Why are you seething?”
Gehenna replied, “I am seething, quivering with anger, shaking because of the vile things the wicked say about Israel.”
God asked, “What will it take to calm you?”
Gehenna answered, “Cram me full of those who transgress against Israel.”
God said, “I have
already filled you with the nations of the earth, and there is no more room in you.”
Gehenna replied, “Master of the Universe, did You not promise that Gehenna would be increased in height by so many parasangs in order to accommodate all transgressors?”
At that instant Gehenna was expanded, and God still flings Israel’s transgressors into it.
This myth continues the personification of Gehenna seen in “The Fate of Slanderers,” p. 237, both from Eliyahu Rabbah. Thus Gehenna is not only portrayed here as a place of punishment, but also as a being gripped by the most intense anger, like a seething pot. God recognizes that Gehenna is seething, and inquires if there is a way to calm it. Gehenna demands to be crammed full of those who transgress against Israel. God raises the question of whether Gehenna has enough room to hold them. This question of room in Gehenna grows out of Isaiah 5:14: Assuredly, Sheol has opened wide its gullet and parted its jaws in a measureless gape. God then expands Gehenna in order to accommodate all the new sinners.
In another version of this myth, instead of asking to be expanded, Gehenna asks for an additional category of sinners, those who know the Torah yet transgress it.
Sources:
Eliyahu Rabbah 18:108; Eliyahu Zuta 20:32.
296. THE SIZE OF GEHENNA
The wicked wonder, “How many myriads can Gehenna hold? Two hundred, three hundred myriads? How can it ever hold all the wicked who appear in every generation?”
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