Judaism Without Gehinnom Is Not Judaism | Rabbi Avigdor Miller

What's the definition of gehennam in Judaism? First, gehenn is two words. Ghanim is a valley of henam. Behind the bam mikash in there was a valley and that valley they used to burn unwanted things and so there was always a fire burning there. Now that was taken as a muscle as a name for a different local that you cannot see. That's the other world. In the world they come there is a gehenna. Now this is a very important subject and it's a pity that should be mentioned only in passing. However, we'll just give it a minute or two. Jahim is one of the fundamentals not only of Judaism. It's one of the fundamentals of humanity. Mankind once believed in gehenna, even non-Jews. And that was one of the pillars of virtue. Very many people were afraid to do wicked things because of what would happen in the hereafter. The hereafter is one of the most necessary principles for society and is the greatest tragedy when it was junked when it was discarded by their schools and by their public periodicals. There was a time when I was a boy. Even the newspapers still spoke of hereafter. It was considered an axiom. There's a hereafter. And I'm afraid today there are so-called orthodox Jews who don't have any idea about hereafter. And therefore it's important to establish that in our vocabulary in our minds. There is a gehenn forces for righteousness. Now gehenn is a prerequisite for gan. In order to enjoy the happiness of the world to come, the soul must first be cleansed and the stains must be removed. And these stains sometimes could have been removed by repentance in this life. It's easier while you're still alive to remove these stains by repenting by changing our ways and our attitudes and the ideals that we have. People have wrong ideals. However, if they didn't and they passed on to the next world with the blemishes on their soul that they must undergo gem. Now there are two kinds of one is that prepares for Ghana and after 12 months some less they are ready to go to the next world but they have undergone h e as nothing as terrible in this world as gehenna I'm talking about a temporary gehenna which is more suffering, more travail, more pain than all the we can imagine in this world. But that is a temporary state. And it's a benefit afterwards. The soul is cleansed and is ready to go to the next world to enjoy the happiness that it earned by whatever mitzv it achieved. However, there's another gehenna and this calls in the great revenge and that's the gehenna for the real there you'll find the founders of the great religions are there I won't mention their names you'll find Hitler is there next to Muhammad of course I want to insult Muhammad and saying he's in the same department Hitler. But each one of them is boiling merrily. There's no question about it forever and ever because Muhammad vented his hatred of the Jews in the new in the in the Quran and for centuries Jews have suffered every kind of tribulation because of the Quran. New Testament also Jews have been murdered because of the New Testament. But Hitler of course is the epitome and he is being given extra treatment in gehenna and there you have to understand there is a direct line by which sadi can sit and gar and they view the punishment inflicted on the and that's part of their happiness in the world to come sadiki can sit and they have a hanoya of the great pleasures which are augmented by the fact that they view also the so is one of the fundamental principles and without gehennam it's impossible to have society civilization can't exist because any criminal can do what he wants and then when justice catches up to him let's say in the good old days when they used to him an electric chair. So before electric chair, one of his confederates slips him a perfumed pill and it wafts him off to the other world and he's finished. You're not afraid of anything. Therefore, it states in don't say that sh the grave is an asylum for you. The fun begins after you die. And that great terror is what kept many showing in line. It limited their wickedness. And that's why it's impossible to have humanity. It's impossible to have a civilization without Ghana. But why shouldn't the scientist who is on a desert island with an old man who has a chest of diamonds? Why shouldn't the scientists scientists kill their old men and take away their diamonds? Why shouldn't he? Is there anything in science that says no? Nothing says in science you shouldn't kill. Especially when you think the old man was once a frog and by accident he turned into a man. So what's to prevent you from killing him? Would you desist from killing a frog who was sitting on a box of diamonds? You wouldn't think a moment about it. And so the scientists, why shouldn't he kill? And they are killing. You see today they're killing babies. Millions of babies every year for money. They're scientists. For money they're making abortions. So you see from money they're killing. Oh babies are different. Unborn babies are different. All these things you have to know are just alibis. It's murder plain and simple. For the sake of money and so therefore we need gehenna because a time will come when scientists will kill old people. Don't worry about that. They did it in Germany. Don't think they weren't a scientist. They were they just as good scientists as American scientists. Maybe better. The German scientist under Hitler [snorts] killed people. And they did it for the opportunity to experiment. In a book, a certain book, he describes that a scientist needed a certain amount of fresh corpses. Where could he get them? So he sent a message to the nearby concentration camp. He wants 80 fresh corpses and right away they were shipped. They were turned into corpses and they were shipped for the scientists to write papers about. He experimented and wrote papers about that. And therefore it's impossible to have a new civilization without belief in a gehenna. And it's important for us to teach goyam about gehenna. had to have a religion and we don't care even though the religion is full of errors but at least they have their principle there as a gehenna and all the religions all the real religions I mean talking about the orthodox religions all have an idea of gehenna because it's fundamental. It's impossible for people to be able to get away with every crime in this life and then to laugh it off and then die painlessly. And therefore, gehenn among Jews is certainly an important part of and as I said before that phase of gem which is a preparation for is not inevitable and the Jew prepares himself in this world to learn he studies like we're studying tonight this person can avoid to a big extent sense having to go through that intermediate stage and he can be a candidate for Ghana without any delay. >> What should what should come first at Hashem or about Hashem? question. What comes first? The fear of Hashem or the love of Hashem? And the answer is the fear of Hashem is easiest to achieve and therefore it comes first because everybody wants to live and he knows that since as they give life therefore that's the first incentive to repent and be good but using that as a foundation Once a man becomes aware of Hashem because fear of Hashem means you're aware of Hashem then begins to think more and more and then he can proceed to this career of beginning to love Hashem. However, even though he becomes a great sadik and he learns to love Hashem intensely, he should never stop fearing Hashem. Very important love. She shouldn't come at all times into the holy of holies. She wouldn't shouldn't die. And the medus explained born like his sons die yet head out of the you want him he should not transgress this law of coming into the without. So we hit him over the head with a club. He bludgeoned him. If you do that you'll die like your children died. So we see that even the greatest man it's important to be afraid of Hashem too. And what kind of a fear fear be afraid of Hashem that's why we ask Hashem for this gift. [cough] Give your fear upon us. We pray Hashem fear us. I met a young man yesterday. He says he's a little nervous. He has a premonition about the coming year. He's worried. I said, "You're lucky. That's what we're praying for. Be afraid." The better the more you're afraid, the better off you are. But you don't call. Everybody shouldn't be afraid of Hashem. We ask Hashem to help us out. And therefore, should always accompany the aavo. Never feel that you are arrived at the stage when you can dispense with fear of Hashem. >> Honesty honesty helped help countless people [music] get closer to Hashem. Honesty honesty that's [music] brutal but is effective but is effective.