A Heavenly Tribunal: The Balance of Judgment

There was once a man who was familiar with suffering and various afflictions. Illnesses struck him and his family, his livelihood was not secure, and many other hardships accompanied him throughout his life. One day, he told his wife that he was traveling to seek the advice of the righteous and mystical Rabbi Mordechai Sharabi, of blessed memory, to understand how he should interpret God's guidance and what he should do to ease his burdens.
When he arrived at the Rabbi's house, the Rebbetzin asked him to wait until the Rabbi was available. The man settled into one of the armchairs in the room, and, exhausted from the journey, fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, he found himself reaching the heavens and saw before him a desolate path, with not a soul in sight. An absolute stillness reigned. Slowly, he began to walk along the path. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise behind him; the noise drew closer and closer. Then a large chariot full of angels as white as snow overtook him, speeding past and disappearing into the horizon.

Once again, the place fell silent, and the man continued on his way. Another chariot passed him, and then many more followed, all full of white angels—some large and mighty, some small and slight. When the procession of white angels ended, a vast procession of chariots carrying terrifying black angels began to pass by.

Curiosity piqued, the man quickened his pace until he reached a wide square where all the chariots were parked. The angels who alighted from them made their way to the center of the square, where there stood gigantic scales and they began to step onto them.

The man did not understand what was happening before him until it was explained that this was the Heavenly Tribunal, and they were now judging a person's deeds. The angels climbing onto the scales were created by the mitzvot and transgressions the person had committed in their life.

When one performs a complete mitzvah, a large and weighty angel is created. However, if a mitzvah is not performed fully, a defective angel, missing limbs or thin and slight, is created. The same goes for the angels created from transgressions—those made from intentional wrongdoing or with pleasure appeared large and heavy, while those from accidental or coerced transgressions were slight and small.

After he heard this explanation, he turned towards the chariots and indeed saw that each one bore a sign with the name of a mitzvah or a transgression. On the chariots with the white angels were signs reading: Torah Study, Prayer, Honoring One's Parents, Acts of Kindness, Shabbat Observance, and more. On the chariots with the black angels were signs bearing the names of transgressions, such as Neglecting Torah, Gossiping, Desecrating Shabbat, Theft, Envy, and so on.

Meanwhile, the scales were filling with white angels on one side and black angels on the other. As they climbed and descended onto the scales, the man became curious to know whose judgment was being passed. When he was informed that it was his own trial, he was shocked and horrified to see that nearly all the angels were already on the scales, and the decision was leaning toward the side of the black angels. He knew well that if this were the final outcome, he would be judged like a wicked person, and he began to tremble with fear.

Then the herald announced and asked, "Are there any remaining angels?" The answer was "No!" The herald asked again, "Perhaps the Jewish man suffered hardships in his life, and if so, they can be added to his merits?"

Immediately, a large chariot of angels created from the power of his sufferings appeared, and for every suffering angel, several black angels were removed from the scales, since sufferings cleanse and purify a person from their sins.

Now he felt some relief, seeing the weight of the black angels diminishing and the scales almost balancing. When even the angels of suffering were done, he saw that the scales still leaned slightly toward the transgressions, realizing his situation was dire. In a short time, the verdict would be announced, and the scale was tipped against him.

In his distress, a great and bitter cry suddenly burst from his lips: "Give me a few more sufferings!"

The man awoke with a start from his dream, and the Rabbi's family, frightened by the cry, rushed to his side and asked what had happened. Only now did he understand that it had all been a dream... He arose from the armchair and turned towards the door. The Rebbetzin called after him: "But you wished to speak with the Rabbi." He replied, "No longer necessary; I received the answer I needed from heaven!"

(From the book "Nezer Yehuda")

The Judgment of the Soul According to the Ramban

The Ramban explains in his book Sha'ar HaGemol:

Each person has their judgment at the time of their death, and they are judged in three categories:

Completely righteous are immediately inscribed and sealed to Eden, while completely wicked are immediately inscribed and sealed to Gehenna and are judged there; and the intermediates hover there until taken out to a place of rest, as we are going to explain.

Whether by the judgment of Gehenna that occurs every day for each and every soul or by the future reward judgment mentioned in this text, everyone is judged according to their deeds in three categories assigned to it: The mildest of them has no limit, but each one is judged, hovers, and rises; the most severe of them is for generations; the intermediate judgment is twelve months. After twelve months in contemporary times, Gehenna spits it out, and they are handed over to Dumah, and they have no rest. And we are going to explain this through discourse and hint.

But after twelve months from the great judgment, their body ceases, and their soul is burned, and a wind scatters them under the feet of the righteous. Although amongst the very transgressors themselves, one’s punishment is greater than another’s, and their obligation surpasses their fellow, all are judged for twelve months; likewise, with punishments, suffering and afflictions in Gehenna, one is greater for one than another; Gehenna beneath Gehenna for penalty and suffering as we are going to mention.
All in true judgment, right and straight, as it is said "for all his ways are justice".

(Sha'ar HaGemol, Ramban)

The Ramban’s Explanation on the Issue "Why Do the Righteous Suffer While the Wicked Prosper"

If you ask: and those whom the sages of blessed memory called "intermediates," because their sins and merits are balanced, and they said about them "Raveh Chesed tilts towards kindness," do they descend to Gehenna or not?
If you say they descend, what benefit did they gain from this good measure "and Raveh Chesed tilts towards kindness"?
And if you say they do not descend there, then what atones for their balanced sins they committed?!

And the answer to this question: that wicked one, whom we have marked as completely wicked, who is judged to the eternal Gehenna because he denied the resurrection of the dead or wielded excessive fear over the public, even though he engaged in a mitzvah and Torah, by what will his reward be fulfilled, and is there no distinction and difference between him and one who served idolatry all his days, or committed sexual immorality or spilled blood?! The Righteous God will not commit injustice!

However, the one who performs mitzvot and good deeds and transgresses many or one severe transgression that warrants being lost, and is judged like a complete wicked one, the Holy One, blessed be He, will recompense him for those mitzvot in this world. As it is said: "and repays those who hate him to their face to destroy them" (Deuteronomy 7:10).

Similarly this righteous one who is balanced, and the Holy One, blessed be His compassionate great mercy tilts kindness to him making him appear as completely righteous, he does not descend to Gehenna, but in this world he is punished for the sins he committed and his initial transgressions, saving him from Gehenna's trial. Thus, the sages taught:

Majority merits and minority light sins - He is punished for minor sins committed in this world, to grant him full reward in the world to come; majority sins and minority merits, he is given the light mitzvah rewards done in this world to pay him fully for the future.

As stated in Tractate Pe'ah (Jerusalem Talmud Pe'ah 1:1).

(Sha'ar HaGemol, Ramban)