It even shows up in our ideas about Gehenna.

Now, Gehenna. It’s a loaded word, right? Often translated as "Hell," it’s really more complex than that. It’s a place of purification, of reckoning, where souls face the consequences of their actions. But where is this Gehenna, exactly? Where does one even enter such a place?

That's where things get interesting, because the answers are… varied, to say the least.

Some traditions, as we find in Midrash Konen, say there are three entrances. One in the desolate wilderness, echoing the wandering and hardship of a life gone astray. Another in the vast, unknowable sea, representing the depths of our own souls, perhaps. And a third… right in Jerusalem! Imagine that. The holy city, also a gateway to… well, to facing the music.

Then there’s another image: two date trees in the valley of Gehinnom – that's the physical valley outside Jerusalem, the one whose name became synonymous with this whole concept – with smoke rising from them, marking the spot. A grim landmark indeed.

But wait, there’s more! According to other accounts, there aren't just three entrances. Oh no. There are four openings on each side of the universe – sixteen in total! Talk about inescapable. Midrash Aggadat Bereshit paints a picture of the wicked desperately trying to flee Gehenna, only to blunder into yet another of its many mouths. It's like a cosmic maze of consequence.

And the variations don't stop there. Fifty gates, some say, each with holes to lock the feet of the condemned. Quite the elaborate security system, isn’t it?

Then there's the most unsettling idea of all: that the mouth of Gehenna can be found anywhere. Any place, any time, the earth could simply open up and… swallow you whole.

Sound familiar? Remember the story of Korah in the Book of Numbers (16:32)? He challenged Moses, and the ground opened up and swallowed him and his followers. A pretty stark image of divine retribution, right? Well, that story becomes a kind of prototype for this idea of Gehenna being ever-present, ever-ready.

So, how do we make sense of all these different accounts? Some say this myth attempts to resolve the contradictions by settling on the idea of three entrances. But perhaps the alternate explanation is more powerful: that Gehenna, in a sense, is always accessible. That the potential for reckoning, for facing the consequences of our actions, is always there, lurking beneath the surface of our everyday lives.

Maybe the real question isn't where is Gehenna, but when will we encounter it? And more importantly, how can we live our lives in a way that prepares us for that inevitable encounter?