Gehenna: The Jewish Hell
“Jews don’t believe in Hell.” - Lisa Simpson
“Some do”, I said back to the TV.
This short conversation most accurately captures the confusion about a topic with which I wrestled throughout my life…“What Jews ‘actually’ believe about what happens after you die.”
In the “cheder” (religious Jewish elementary school) I attended, I was given mixed messages. Some rabbis told me that “Jews don’t believe in Hell”, just like Lisa Simpson said on TV. Others told me, “Nonsense…we have our version of Hell and it’s called ‘Gehenna’!” Still others said something about reincarnation, which seemed like a completely different and alternative option to what may happen to the soul after the body dies. Finally, other rabbis told me…“Nothing. You just die.”
As a child, I was shocked that my knowledgeable teachers could not give me a definitive answer on “What Jews believe about the after-life”. I should not have been surprised because (in typical Jewish form) there has never been complete consensus among the Jewish people about anything. There continues to be lots of debate.
From the outside perspective, the Christian conception of the afterlife seems quite straightforward and can be summarized in a neat little package: you do certain things and, when you die, you get to go to Heaven or Hell.
In Judaism, not so. Some of my rabbis told me that, “Jews have Hell (Gehenna) but you only go for 12 months.” WHAT?!?! Now I thought these people were crazy. “Oh, and you get the sabbath and holidays off”. WHAAAAAAAA?!?!?!? Now I knew they were crazy.
“But what about the reincarnation thing?”, I asked. “Oh, yeah. That’s right too.” What do you mean, “Oh, yeah. That’s right, too.”? What the heck is going on here? Why don’t Jews even agree on what they believe?
Well, it turns out that the answer is simple…
Some Jews believe in Hell (Gehenna). Some Jews believe there is no hell at all. Some Jews believe in reincarnation. Some Jews don’t even believe in G-d at all! There is a diversity of opinions and, as an adult with a more nuanced perspective, I am very thankful that there is not one central dogma. This gives Judaism room for debate, discussion, and diversity.
Ok…Now that you understand that there is a lack of religious consensus and that many Jews can believe many different things, let’s tackle Jewish Hell (and reincarnation in my next blog post).
Early Thoughts on Hell
Gehenna is the Jewish version of the “punishing afterlife” and the word refers to a valley just to the west side of the city of Jerusalem. In Biblical times, this place was occupied by Western Semitic pagans— people who worshiped deities different from YHWH, such as Molech. There were “tophets” (roasters), which are places where child sacrifice was performed. This particular valley became synonymous with horror and evil. It was a bad part of town on the other side of the tracks. (The city put a highway right though it, but that is another story of government re-zoning and urban development). The gate to Hell still stands and is a place to visit for tourists (check it out Google Earth! It’s the cover shot of this blog article.).
Aside from the Book of Daniel, the Bible doesn’t have much to say about Hell. A more detailed description of Hell is discussed in the Talmud but it draws heavily on the description in the Book of Daniel. The Talmud describes Hell as a large fiery oven, filled with coal, pitch and sulfur (Pes. 94a). However, the description changes from text to text. (One religious text claims that there are no less than five different types of fires burning in Hell!)
The first detailed description comes from the First Book of Enoch and it is consistent with the description in the Book of Daniel. However, in the Second Book of Enoch, Hell is described as unbearably cold with total darkness (Alaska?). In several accepted religious texts, Gehenna is described as a combination—alternating between fiery and icy. So, apparently Hell does freeze over.
According to (some of) the Jewish people, Gehenna was created on the second day of creation (Monday) and this is the reason that this is the only day G-d does not declare as “good” (Pes. 54a, Ned. 39b). There are three entries to Hell. There is one by the sea, one by the desert and one in that valley outside of Jerusalem (Eruv. 19a; BhM 2:30). Each gate is guarded by one of the following angelic princes, Kliphod, Nasagiel or Samael (one of the names of the Angel of Death, Malach ha-Mavet or, in other Kabbalistic traditions, Satan.)
Again, unlike the most common, modern conception of hell, it isn’t run by little demons. Hell contains a team of punishing angels doing G-d’s work at his command! Each team is led by a princely angel (office manager or supervisor) doling out specific punishments for specific sins and transgressions.
Surprising Facts About Hell
The Talmud states in no less than three places that everyone (except those that are being punished for not keeping the Sabbath), gets the sabbath day off (Sanh. 65b; Gen. R. 11:5, PR 23:8). Holidays are also a day of rest. (Sadly, there is no mention of health, dental, or vision benefits.)
Talmudic sages also reject that punishment is eternal. They gave great thought to the Biblical verse “The dust returns to the Earth as it was, while the spirit returns to G-d who gave it.” This verse was taken literally. Sages concluded that punishment cannot be eternal if the spirit is to return to its maker. Additionally, Talmudic rabbis rejected the idea of eternal punishment on the basis of two other ideas. The first is that G-d is both just and compassionate and, that being the case, a compassionate and just G-d would not sentence someone to eternal and infinite punishment for a finite life of sin. This is too disproportionate. The second idea is that G-d himself shares responsibility for our sins and transgressions. How can the creator fault only the creation?
The Talmud specifically limits the time spent in Gehenna for 12 months (Shab. 33b) and this is not arbitrary. There are long passages that justify this time frame (Eruv. 19b; T. Sanh. 13:3; M. Eduyot 2:10). The Midrash, equal in importance and standing to the Talmud, agrees (Gen. R. 28:8, 33:7; Seder Olam ha-Ba). If there are any unredeemable souls, simply, their fate is non-being, nonexistence and annihilation. “After 12 months, their body is consumed and their soul is burned and the wind scatters them under the soles of the feet of the righteous (R.H. 17a). According to Talmud, there have only been 7 such souls in the Biblical period who warranted total non-existence.
How to Avoid Going to Hell
According to Chapter 50, verse 1 of “Pesikta Rabbiti” (“Great Sections”), composed around 845 CE, tells us that to avoid Gehenna, all you needs to do is: Be humble, do good deeds, and “have Torah”. (This is not to be taken in the literal sense--that you have a physical copy of the book, but that you always act with righteousness in your heart. This is why the great rationalist Rabbi Maimonides declared that “The pious of all nations will have a portion in the ‘world to come’.” [Yad, Teshuvah 3.5]. It is a very common belief among Jews that no one is penalized for their lack of exposure to the wisdom contained in the Torah. Therefore, even if you never saw a Torah in your life, you can still have “Torah” in your heart.)
On the other hand, the idea of reincarnation is also a belief held by many Jewish people! It began to rise in popularity starting sometime before the 10th century. It is first mentioned and mocked by a rationalist Rabbi named Sa’adia Gaon (“Sefer Emunah v’Da’at 6). Since reincarnation is also a big topic to cover, I am going to save discussion for my next blog entry, so stay tuned!
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Copyright 2022. Jeremy Weiss. All rights reserved.
