Two bands of angels stand at the gates of Gehinnom (גהינום) and call out one word: "Come! Come!" According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, Rabbi Eliezer explained that these angels are the "two daughters of the leech" mentioned in (Proverbs 30:15). The name Gehinnom itself means "Valley of Wailing" because the sound of its screaming traverses the entire world from end to end.
Gehinnom has three gates. One gate opens at the sea, referenced by Jonah when he cried from the belly of Sheol. One gate opens in the wilderness, alluded to when Korah and his followers went down alive into the earth (Numbers 16:33). The third gate stands in Jerusalem itself, as Isaiah wrote: "The Lord, whose fire is in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem" (Isaiah 31:9).
Five different kinds of fire burn there. One devours and absorbs. Another absorbs but does not devour. A third neither devours nor absorbs. And there is fire that devours other fire. The coals are the size of mountains. Rivers of pitch and sulphur flow and seethe.
The angels of destruction seize the sinner and hurl them toward the flame. Gehinnom opens its mouth wide and swallows them whole. But this fate only befalls someone who has not performed even a single act of mercy that might tip the scales. The person who has studied Torah and endured suffering is saved, as David wrote: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff comfort me" (Psalms 23:4). The rod is suffering. The staff is Torah.