Gehinom, Hell - What are the differences??

Hi, I'll try to answer your questions as I'm Jewish, though I'm confused as to why you're learning these things in a Christian class.

In essence there are two types of commandments: Between man and his fellow man, and between man and G-d. If a person has wronged another person, he can only be forgiven if he's begged forgiveness from that person.
Mostly, all other sins can be healed by the right type of repentance during your life or after death by gehenom, except for three major sins: Idolatry, adultery and murder, for which you receive "Karet" - being cut out of existence. During your life you can repent those three sins, but if you haven't done that by death, then it's "game over", so to speak.

I didn't understand. Gehenom, or hell, isn't a physical place. It's where your soul goes through an arduous cleansing process. When it's over, you go to heaven. As a soul, you no longer have free will, as you don't have a physical body anymore. You accept your cleansing. You should be thankful that despite totally ruining your life on earth by sinning, you still get another chance at heaven.

Abraham was the first of the Jewish Nation's forefathers. I don't recognize the expression you quoted.

Abraham is the English version of Avraham which is a Hebrew shortening of the term "Av hamon goyim", "father of many nations", mixed in with his original name Avram, meaning "father of (the nation of) Aram".
The Islamic name you refer to is a later historic version of Avraham, which is Ibrahim, merely the Arabic version of the same name.

Rabbi Eliezer, or in his full name Rabbi Eliezer Ben Horkenus, was one of the greatest sages in the Era after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. He, along with his own Rabbi and other students, founded the Yavneh school of thought that is credited in assisting Jews in keeping their faith during the early years of the diaspora.
Rabbi Eliezer appears many times in the Talmud, as he took part in many major core discussions concerning Jewish law and thought.

 

It's pretty much everything @Hros above me said. Take into account that this is the Jewish view of matters. I suggest that you also take a glance at the Kabbalah. As a Jew myself, I started studying it not too long ago and it completely transformed my life and helped me tap deeper into my spiritual self. I wish you the best on your spiritual journey! Amen!

 

Gehinnom or Gehenna, is a Hebrew word that means "Valley of Hinnom. This valley was situated on the outskirts of Jerusalem as where various pagan "child sacrifices" occoured. It was later turned into a public incinerator for garbage and for disposing dead criminal corpses, as they don't deserve a "proper burial". Jesus made a reference to Gehenna to prove a point. Gehenna symbolises everlasting destruction. In Matthew 5:30, where the word, "gehenna" appears, the KJV renders it as "hell fire", which is a very inaccurate rendering as Jesus wasn't emphasizing on torment but on destruction. The inhabitants of Jerusalem are aware that the Valley of Hinnom was never used as a tool for torture and that the fires had a destructive effect. Gehenna, as used in the scriptures, creates no room for confusion. Its a metaphor used by Jesus to emphasize everlasting destruction, not everlasting torment.

 

I'd like to point out that while there is a valley near Old Jerusalem (now part of the New City) called "Gey Ben Hinom", believed to be the biblical valley where child sacrifices to the Moloch idol took place, it is unclear whether or not Gehenom and Gey Ben Hinom are actually connected in the meaning of the name (Ben Hinom is an unclear name in itself).

 

Most likely Gey Ben Hinnom is a modern day rendering of Gehinnom...they sound pretty similar. It should be made clear that Gehenna was used symbolically to explain the punishment of sinners... Everlasting destruction. Parts of the Torah teach that man is a soul and doesn't possess an immortal entity that lives on after death. Life is a gift God gives to good people and death is a punishment for badness. Assuming people have souls, it wouldnt make sense to put an intangible thing as the "soul" in a physical place and a physical fire in the hopes of inducing pain and torment. Gehinnom is a symbol for everlasting destruction... the fate of all unrepentant sinners

 

Except Gey Ben Hinom isn't a modern day name - it first appears in the book of Joshua.
Gehenom, on the other hand, first appears in the Mishnah.

You're right, I'm not disagreeing on this.

Oh yeah? What parts? Sounds like you just removed the afterlife and the next world out of existence...

I'm lost. Good people also die. Everyone dies.

 

Well, the Genesis account says that God formed man out of the dust and breathed into his nostrils and he became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Note that it didn't say man was given a soul, it said man became a soul...the Hebrew word used there was "nephesh" which means "being", "person", "living person". Prophet Ezekiel later revealed that a soul that sins would die (Ezekiel 18:4) The scriptures reveal that the soul, in anyway, is not immortal because the soul is the person and it can die. The Scriptures also reveal that there's no such thing as an afterlife...everything ends at the Grave. Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6 and 10 says that the dead know nothing at all. Neither can they love or hate or enjoy or suffer while in the grave. "Sheol" is the Hebrew word that was used in that scripture. Just like its Greek counterpart, "hades", they both mean Grave, a place of nonexistence where dead people of all kinds would dwell. It also says in verse 10 that there's no work or planning in the grave, which is the place where all souls end up. The only hope God provides for good people who are dead is the resurrection. They are going to come back to the physical world and live forever in a totally transformed and beautiful earth that we know of. The wicked will see no resurrection and would remain dead forever. The wicked that are alive would be annihilated and receive the everlasting destruction. This is what I mean by "death is a punishment for badness".

 

It does, actually, in the same exact sentence: "Vayipach b'apav nishmat chaim, v'ayehi ha'Adam l'nefesh chayah" meaning: And He (G-d) blew into his nostrils a soul of life, and man was a living being.
"Nishmat chaim", or Neshama (same Hebrew word root) is the Hebrew word for soul. This soul is something that lives on after death. Upon obtaining the G-d-given soul, Man became a living being.

Strange of you to quote from a chapter that literally says in two different verses earlier in the ch. that this prophecy is a parable...

Understood, thank you for clarifying. I disagree, obviously, as we come from two different religions, but that's alright.