The story centers around Rabbah bar Bar Hannah, a figure known for his… let’s just say, colorful travel stories. One day, as recounted in Bava Batra 74a, a Bedouin approached Rabbah with a proposition: to show him the very spot where Korah and his followers were swallowed by the earth. Remember Korah? He was the one who dared to challenge Moses, leading a rebellion that ended with the ground opening up and consuming him and his cohorts (Numbers 16:32).
Intrigued, Rabbah agreed. The Bedouin led him to a desolate place, and there they saw it: two fissures in the earth, smoke curling ominously from within. To test the depths, Rabbah took a bundle of wool, soaked it in water, and secured it to a spear. He thrust the spear into one of the cracks. When he pulled it out, the wool was scorched, burned by the intense heat below.
But the most chilling part was yet to come. The Bedouin instructed Rabbah to press his ear to the ground. What he heard sent shivers down his spine. From the depths rose a chorus of anguished cries: "Moses and the Torah are true, and we were liars!" Imagine hearing that echoing up from the earth itself!
The Bedouin then revealed a terrifying schedule. Every thirty days, an angel, appointed over the sinners of hell, brings them to this very spot. There, they are roasted in the fire, their eternal punishment a constant reminder of their transgressions. And all the while, they are consumed by regret, forever lamenting their rebellion.
This tale, as Howard Schwartz points out in Tree of Souls, gives us a peek into Gehenna, often understood as a place of purification or punishment for wicked souls. This isn't just a random location; it’s a return to the very site of their initial demise, a geographical echo of their sin. There’s a parallel drawn by Schwartz to another of Rabbah's stories – the Wheel of Heaven, which he also claims to have seen with the same Bedouin, returning to its place every twenty-four hours. (See "Where Heaven and Earth Meet," p. 121 and "The Dead of the Desert," p. 471.)
What's the message here? Well, it’s pretty clear. The story of Korah serves as a stark warning. To defy divine authority, to reject truth, leads to eternal suffering and unending remorse. The cries of Korah and his followers, forever echoing from the depths, are a testament to the enduring consequences of rebellion. They are a constant, fiery reminder that some mistakes haunt us for eternity.