On the Topic of Gehenom

Now, does the tradition of Yisrael believe in the concept of Gehenom? Yes, we do. Now, it is not what the Christians or Muslims claim it to be. Rather, by burning off the tainted, impure layers on the soul, it allows us to enter the next world for it says “All of Israel has a share in the world to come” (Sanhedrin 10:1).

Gehenom can be seen as the process of rectifying the soul. To not believe in Gehenom is to assume that a Jew who is Kareth (cut off) would merely cease to exist. Now, I have a problem with that belief because every Neshamah is a Khelkath Elokim (חלקת אלוהים) – a piece of G-d. And that Neshamah needs to be returned to Him. Thus, there would need to be the process of rectification.

So what happens if someone is too wicked to merit a life in the next world?

The following is from the end of גיטין דף נו and the beginning of the next דף.

אונקלוס בר קלוניקוס בר אחתיה דטיטוס הוה בעי לאיגיורי אזל אסקיה לטיטוס בנגידא אמר ליה מאן חשיב בההוא אונקלוס בר קלוניקוס בר אחתיה דטיטוס הוה בעי לאיגיורי אזל אסקיה לטיטוס בנגידא אמר ליה מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא אמר ליה ישראל מהו לאידבוקי בהו אמר ליה מילייהו נפישין ולא מצית לקיומינהו זיל איגרי בהו בההוא עלמא והוית רישא דכתיב (איכה א, ה) היו צריה לראש וגו’ כל המיצר לישראל נעשה ראש אמר ליה דיניה דההוא גברא במאי א”ל

Onkelos bar Kalonikos, the son of the Sister of Titus (may his name be erased forever), wanted to convert to the Nation of Israel. He went and raised Titus from the grave through necromancy, and said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Titus said to him: The Jewish people. Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them here in this world? Titus said to him: Their commandments are numerous, and you will not be able to fulfill them. It is best that you do as follows: Go out and battle against them in that world, and you will become the chief, as it is written: “Her adversaries [צריה] have become the chief” (Lamentations 1:5), which means: Anyone who distresses [מיצר] Israel will become the chief. Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Titus himself, in the next world? Titus said to him:

במאי דפסיק אנפשיה כל יומא מכנשי ליה לקיטמיה ודייני ליה וקלו ליה ומבדרו אשב ימי

That which he decreed against himself, as he undergoes the following: Every day his ashes are gathered, and they judge him, and they burn him, and they scatter him over the sea.


אזל אסקיה לבלעם בנגידא אמר ליה מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא א”ל ישראל מהו לאידבוקי בהו א”ל (דברים כג, ז) לא תדרוש שלומם וטובתם כל הימים א”ל דיניה דההוא גברא במאי א”ל בשכבת זרע רותחת

[Onkelos then went and] raised Bilaam from the grave through necromancy. He said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Balaam said to him: The Jewish people. Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them here in this world? Bilaam said to him: You shall not seek their peace or their welfare all the days (see Deuteronomy 23:7). Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Bilaam himself, in the next world? Bilaam said to him: He is heated up in boiling seed [זרע], as he caused Israel to engage in sexually immoral behavior with the women of Moav [as read in Parshat Balak].


אזל אסקיה [ליש”ו] בנגידא (לפושעי ישראל) א”ל מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא א”ל ישראל מהו לאדבוקי בהו א”ל טובתם דרוש רעתם לא תדרוש כל הנוגע בהן כאילו נוגע בבבת עינו

[Onkelos then went and] raised a certain Sinner (Yashka) from the grave through necromancy. Onkelos said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now? Yeshu said to him: The Jewish people. Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them in this world? Yeshu said to him: Their welfare you shall seek, their misfortune you shall not seek, for anyone who touches them is regarded as if he were touching the pupil of his eye (see Zechariah 2:12).

א”ל דיניה דההוא גברא במאי א”ל בצואה רותחת

[Onkelos] said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Yeshu himself, in the next world? Yeshu said to him: He is punished with boiling [bodily] waste.

Note: “צוֹאָה רוֹתֵחַת” is the place in Gehinnom where certain souls are sent to a punishment so severe that this place doesn’t pause itself on שבת. The Jewish souls here are not guaranteed to be removed from this part of Gehinnom after the standard 12-month period that severe forms of punishments endure. The Zohar (III, 282) describes this place with the following: “excrement mixed with different types of filth and vermin, into which dead dogs are thrown. The children of Eisav and Yishmael are buried in it. She is a grave for idolatry, where the uncircumcised are buried, who are dead dogs, vermin, a bad smell and filthy, and who became foul through her, who is the adhesion attached to the mixed multitude that are mixed in Yisrael, and who is attached to the bones and flesh that are the children of Eisav and Yishmael, who are a dead bone and unclean meat, meat that is torn by beasts in the field, of which it says, “you shall cast it to the dogs” (Sh’mot 22:30).”

דאמר מר: כל המלעיג על דברי חכמים נידון בצואה רותחת תא חזי מה בין פושעי ישראל לנביאי אומות העולם עובדי ע”ז

As the Master said: Anyone who mocks the words of the Sages will be sentenced to boiling excrement. And this was his sin, as he mocked the words of the Sages. The Gemara comments: Come and see the difference between the sinners of Israel and the prophets of the nations of the world. As Balaam, who was a prophet, wished Israel harm, whereas Yashka, who was a Jewish sinner, sought their well-being.

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So what can we learn from this?

1. We learn that the Sonei Yisrael (Antisemites) are punished for dedicating their existence to the destruction of the Nation of Yisrael. This includes Amalek – the grandson of Eisav who dedicates his entire life to the plot to murder Yisrael. Second, that many of the Bnei Yishmael are destined for something far from the good. In fact, they attach themselves to impurity. They love impurity. When the Amalekim where murdering Jews in Europe, they had no incentive to murder Jews on Jewish holidays where the Qedushah (holiness) was present, but when the Amalekim were among the Bnei Yishmael, they desire to exterminate the Jews on Jewish holidays because they can not tolerate the Qedushah found among the Bnei Yisrael. Thus, our first encounter with Amalek was soon before the Bnei Yisrael gathered around Har Sinai where we would receive the Torah.
   
2. The scoffers of Truth will suffer. For those pathetic, dishonest Jews who are insecure about their Jewishness and wish to mock the Rabbanim, they will not be greeted by the Qedoshim in this world or the next. That is why Yehudim should be careful not to vilify those who wish to pursue the Torah of Truth.
   
3. Those who promote immorality are among the wicked. Causing people to stumble in the area of immorality is very dangerous as such people are causing others to sin via the seemingly desirable activities that can cause one to lose his share in the world to come…Thus, a Jew should not promote or endorse such behavior.