Rabbi SAFE0 ben Levi was walking on the road when he met the prophet Elijah. "Would you like to see the gates of Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death)?" Elijah asked. "Yes," he answered. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, what followed was a guided tour of punishments that matched each sin to the exact body part that committed it.
Elijah showed him men hanging by their hair. These had grown their hair long to make themselves attractive for sin. Others hung by their eyes, for following their gaze into transgression. Others by their tongues, for slander. Others by their hands, for theft. Others by their feet, for running to do evil. Women hung by their breasts for deliberately enticing men.
Deeper in, Elijah showed him men forced to eat fiery coals. These had blasphemed. Others swallowed bitter gall, punished for eating on fast days. Still others ate fine sand until their teeth broke. God Himself addresses these sinners: "When you ate stolen food it was sweet in your mouth. Now you cannot eat even this."
Others were thrown from fire to snow and back again, endlessly. These had turned away the poor who came asking for help. Others were driven from mountain to mountain like sheep, with death itself serving as their shepherd.
Rabbi Johanan explained the system: for every sin, a specific angel is appointed to extract its expiation. They take turns, like creditors collecting debts. Three categories of sinners descend to Gehinnom forever and never ascend: the adulterer, the one who publicly shames their neighbor, and the perjurer. But even Gehinnom observes the Sabbath. On Friday evening, the sinners are led to two mountains of snow and left there until Saturday night. Some try to smuggle snow under their armpits to cool themselves during the week. God rebukes them: "You steal even in Gehinnom."
XV. (1) E. Joshua, son of Levi, said, ' Once upon a time
I was walking on my way, when I met the prophet Elijah.
He said to me, " Would you like to be brought to the gate of
hell ?" I answered, " Yes !" So he showed me men hanging
by their hair; and he said to me, " These were the men that
let their hair grow to adorn themselves for sin." Others were
hanging by their eyes; these were they that followed their
eyes to sin, and did not set God before them. Others
were hanging by their noses; these were they that per-
fumed themselves to sin. Others were hanging by their
tongues; these were they that had slandered. Others were
hanging by their hands; these were they that had stolen
and robbed. Others were hanging ignominiously; these
were they that had committed adultery. Others were
hanging by their feet; these were they that had run to sin.
He showed me women hanging by their breasts; these
were they that uncovered their breasts before men, to make
them sin. (2) He showed me further men that were fed on
fiery coals; these were they who had blasphemed. Others
were forced to eat bitter gall; these were they that ate on
fast-days. (3) He showed me further men eating fine sand;
they are forced to eat it, and their teeth are broken; and
the Almighty says to them, " 0 ye sinners ! when you used
to eat that which you stole and robbed it was sweet in your
mouth; now you are not able to eat even this," as it
is said, " Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked "
(4) He showed me further men who are thrown from fire to
snow, and from snow to fire; these were they that abused
the poor who came to them for assistance; therefore are
they thus punished, as it is said, " Thou hast caused men
to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through
water." He showed me others who were driven from
mountain to mountain, as a shepherd leads the flock from
one mountain to another. Of these speaks the verse:
'' They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be
their shepherd, and the upright shall have the dominion
over them in the morning, and their form shall be for
Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for it." '
(5) K. Johanan said. For every sin there is an angel ap-
pointed to obtain the expiation thereof; one comes first
and obtains his expiation, then follows another, and so on
until all the sins are expiated. As with a debtor who has
many creditors, and who come before the king to claim
their debts, and the king delivers him to them, and says,
' Take him and divide him between yourselves,' so also is
the soul delivered in hell to cruel angels, and they divide it
among themselves.
(6) Three descend to hell for ever, and do not ascend any
more — the man who commits adultery, who blames his
neighbour in public, and who is guilty of perjury. Others
say, Those who seek honour for themselves by slandering
their neighbours, and those who make intrigues between
man and wife in order to create strife among them.
(7) On the eve of the Sabbath the sinners are led to two
mountains of snow, where they are left until the end of the
Sabbath, when they are taken back from there and brought
again to their former places. An angel comes and thrusts
them back to their former place in hell. Some of them
take, however, snow and hide it in their armpits to cool
them during the six days of the week, but the Almighty
says unto them, ' Woe unto you who steal even in hell,'
as it is said, ' Draught and heat consume the snow waters,
in Sheol they sin.' That means to say, ' They sin even in
Sheol.'
(8) Every twelvemonth the sinners are burned to ashes,
3—2
36 [XVI. I
and the wind disperses them and carries those ashes under
the feet of the just, as it is said, ' And ye shall tread down
the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the sole of your
feet.' Afterwards, the soul is returned to them, and they
come out black as the blackness of a pot, and they acknow-
ledge the justice of their punishment, and say, ' Thou hast
rightly sentenced us and rightly judged us. With Thee is
righteousness and with us shame, as it is with us to-day.'
