Reply To: גהנום

Rav Avigdor Miller on Passing By the Entrance to Gehenim in Your Own Kitchen:

Q:
I learned a גמרא that says that in ירושלים there is an entrance that leads into גיהנם (Eiruvin 19a). What does that mean? Isn’t גיהנם in some sort of spiritual world – somewhere not in this physical world?

A:
When the גמרא says that near ירושלים there was a place that was called the פתחה של גיהנם – the entrance way into Gehenom – it means that when you pass by any place where smoke issues from the earth, make sure not to waste that opportunity. Utilize it as a reminder of גיהנם. The truth is, that the smoke, and the hole where that smoke is being generated in the bowel of the earth, is not even the slightest comparison to גיהנם. No comparison at all! גיהנם is a thousand times worse. But we have to train ourselves. We have to think about it. Just because גיהנם is not in this world, that’s exactly why you need to create for yourself artificial reminders about גיהנם. Otherwise, it won’t mean anything to you. It’s very important to think of גיהנם.

Where is Hitler right now if not in גיהנם? Otherwise, you’ll think that Hitler could do what he did and then take a poison that’s flavored and leave this world to escape punishment? No! He’s getting it right now! באמונה שלימה you have to know that there is גיהנם. But how do you train yourself? You have to train yourself to believe in גיהנם. Without putting effort into it, it will just remain a pale idea in your mind. If you ever pass a fissure in the earth and smoke is coming out of it, then think, “That’s גיהנם.” It’s an important opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.

Any opportunity of that kind should be utilized. The גמרא says that אש, fire, is one-sixtieth of גיהנם. Here’s a woman and she’s standing in her kitchen and she accidently puts her finger on the hot tea kettle – wooh! It hurts! It hurts terribly! She burns her finger and she should think, “Oh, that’s a gift. The gift of דעת ה׳.” It’s an opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted. “That’s how גיהנם is going to be,” she should think. “For speaking לשון הרע on the telephone, I’m going to have to put my tongue on that pot. Not my finger. My tongue! And it’ll be stuck to the tea kettle and I won’t be able to pull it off. I’ll have to put my tongue against the tea kettle and it will be stuck there a long time. Oh, ow! Ow! Ow! I’m so sorry.” And Hashem will say, “Just a few more hours – a few more hours.”

So אש is a משל for גיהנם. Of course, the אש of גיהנם is not only sixty times worse than the fire. It’s much worse than that. Sixty times is only a משל. And we need משלים for גיהנם. Absolutely, we need משלים for גיהנם! We have to remind ourselves. No question about it. גיהנם is very big. And it’s full of רשעים. All the people who have done evil are there. Titus is in גהינם right now. And all the רשעים. Nebuchadnezzar is in גיהנם. All of the רשעים are in גיהנם. Of course, המן is an old citizen there too. All the Germans and the German people. Not only six million Germans. There will be eighty million Germans in גיהנם. All eighty million who voted for Hitler. They all will be in גהינם. Most of them are already there, ברוך ה׳. Trust me, גיהנם is very big. There’s enough room for all the רשעים. You have to believe באמונה שלימה that there’s a גיהנם. A very big גיהנם. It’s just as important as believing in הקדוש ברוך הוא. You have to know what you’re saying when you say הנשא שופט הארץ השב גמול על גאים. “When is Hashem elevated? Only when you know that he turns back recompense on the wicked, arrogant ones – the רשעים.” When you truly understand that there’s a recompense on the רשעים, then you have אמונה in הקדוש ברוך הוא. And that’s why you must take advantage of any opportunity. And that’s what the גמרא means when it says that as you pass by a fissure in the earth’s surface and smoke is coming out, make sure to think of גיהנם.