" Every one has two portions, one in paradise and another in hell." Acheer asked Rabbi Meyer, "What meaneth this that is written (Eccl. vii. 14), God also has set the one over against the other? Rabbi Meyer replied, " There is nothing which God has created of which He has not also created the opposite. He who created mountains and hills created also seas and rivers.
But said Acheer to Rabbi Meyer, " Thy master, Rabbi Akiva, did not say so, but spake in this way: He created the righteous and also the wicked; He created paradise and hell: every man has two portions, one portion in paradise, and the other in hell. The righteous, who has personal merit, carries both his own portion of good and that of his wicked neighbor away with him to paradise; the wicked, who is guilty and condemned, carries both his own portion of evil and also that of his righteous neighbor away with him to hell. • When Rav Mesharshia asked what Scripture guarantee there was for this, this was the reply: " With regard to the righteous, it is written (Isa. lxi. 7), 'They shall rejoice in their portion, therefore in their land (beyond the grave) they shall possess the double. Respecting the wicked it is written (Jer. xvii. 18), (And destroy them with double destruction.}>>