Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Adam and the Fires of Gehenna of Gehinnom.
The verse in question is from Psalm 92: "It is good to confess to the Lord." But who is doing the confessing? According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, it's none other than Adam himself, the first man.
Adam, standing before the Divine, reflecting on his actions, on his transgression in the Garden of Eden. He doesn't just wallow in guilt. Instead, he offers a profound teaching for all generations. He says, let everyone learn from me: whoever sings praises to God, utters psalms, and, crucially, confesses their sins in a court of justice and abandons those sins, will be delivered from the judgment of Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death).
Gehinnom. That word might ring a bell. It's often translated as "hell," but it's more nuanced than that. Think of it as a place of purification, a fiery crucible where souls are cleansed. Adam is saying that sincere repentance, combined with praise, can spare us from this difficult process.
Think about the weight of that statement. Adam, having experienced the consequences of disobedience firsthand, is pointing us towards a path of redemption. It’s a message of hope, a evidence of the power of teshuvah (repentance), repentance, to transform our lives.
But the passage doesn’t end there. The next verse of Psalm 92, verse 2, says, "To declare your loving-kindness in the morning." Again, Adam speaks: This refers to everyone who enters this world, which is like the night, and to all who enter the World to Come, which is like the morning. They will declare the faithfulness and love of the Holy One, blessed be He, which He has shown to me, delivering me from the judgment of Gehinnom.
What a beautiful image! The darkness of this world contrasted with the light of the World to Come. Adam sees himself as a bridge between these two realms. He is a evidence of God's faithfulness, a living example of Divine mercy. He experienced the "night" of sin and its consequences, but also the "morning" of forgiveness and redemption.
So, what does this ancient story tell us today? Perhaps it's a reminder that we all stumble, we all make mistakes. Adam certainly did. But the key is not to despair. It is to turn back to God, to confess our transgressions, and to actively work to change our ways. It's a call to embrace the "morning" of forgiveness, to declare God's loving-kindness in our own lives. And maybe, just maybe, like Adam, we too can find ourselves delivered from the fires of Gehinnom.