WAITING

M. M. NINAN
majority view of the Rabbis is that punishment in Gehenna is of limited duratation. The
maximum punishment was believed to be 12 months. The Talmud says, in tractate "Shabbat"
page 33b that "The duration of punishment in Gehenna is twelve months". This is also stated
in both early and late rabbinical literature (i.e., texts of the Rabbis of the Talmud). This 12
month limit is true for both Jewish and Gentile sinners ("Rosh HaShanah" 17a). This is true
even of the generation of the flood, who were said to be very wicked. (Mishneh, Eduyyot 2:10;
Genesis Rabbah 28:8). Though some individual Rabbis (a minority) expressed the view that
certain sinners stayed in Gehenna forever, it was not the majority, accepted view.
"During the twelve-month period in Gehenna, the soul goes through a process of purification
and atonement, and, as described in Midrash Pesikta Rabbati, 'After going down to Gehenna
and receiving the punishment due him, the sinner is forgiven from all his iniquities, like an
arrow from the bow he is flung forth from Gehenna' (Pesikta Rabbati 53:2). After this
experience, the soul is sufficiently purified and able to enter the supernal postmortem realm of
Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden (Exodus Rabbah 7:4)" (Raphael,Jewish Views of the Afterlife,
p145)
Part 2: Medieval Views
I will consider a number of Medieval views of Gehenna in this section.
I remind you, that a Midrash is non-binding and usually is written to teach a lesson, or to
encourage certain behavior (such as the desirability of not committing adultery, perjury, or
blaming a neighbor in public). It is not extended to be the literal truth in any way. As Raphael
says, "In the medieval period an extensive MYTHICAL tradition was developed" on the afterlife,
including punishment in Gehenna. Masekhet Gihinnom (a Medieval Midrash on Gehenna)
says that 3 types of sinners go to Gehenna forever: men who commit adultery, blames his
neighbor in public, and one who is guilty of perjury. The same tractate latter says that every 12
months the sinners are burned to ashes and dispersed by the wind, so that the righteous can
walk on their ashes, fulfilling Malachi 3:21. Afterwards, their soul is release from Gehenna,
they acknowledge the justice of their punishment.
30