Why Did Hashem Create Gehinnom?

Orna asks: "Hashem is gracious and merciful, so why did He create Gehinnom? There is no more frightening thought—why punish? Why doesn’t Hashem let people do what they want without punishing them? Isn’t punishment seemingly contrary to free will, forcing a person to choose good? I would appreciate if you could clarify this issue."

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Hello Orna, and thank you for your question.

All evil stems from deficiency (as evidenced: why does a person envy, steal, or covet? Only because he wants to obtain something his fellow has). Conversely, perfection comes from goodness, abundance, and the desire to do good (therefore, mercy and love are expressed through giving). Hashem is infinite and perfect, with no limitations or deficiencies of any kind, and there is nothing He can gain from man. Therefore, everything Hashem does is for our good, including suffering and even Gehinnom. The sages say that even Gehinnom is called "very good" (Bereshit Rabbah 9:9-11).

Hashem certainly does not punish for sins as vengeance, for His whole purpose is to benefit man, like a father who wants to advance his children and help them. Any child can ask: "Why does my father care if I study in school instead of playing outside all day? Why does my father care if I eat sweets all day? Why does my father take away this small object from me or want me to get a painful injection?"—but even a child can understand that his parents do everything out of love and concern for him. This is a direct quote: "You should know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so Hashem, your God, disciplines you" (Deuteronomy 8:5).

Every person who sins damages his soul, and the suffering is meant to clean the dangerous stains and defects that have clung to his soul, preventing him from receiving the divine light. Thus, the sages said that in the future, everyone will also say regarding suffering and hardships, "the good and the benefactor" (Pesachim 50a), because then we will understand rationally how they benefit us. All souls in the World to Come understand the correction they underwent and how the good Hashem healed them and elevated them from all defects.

From this, it is important to understand that in Judaism, the concept of Gehinnom is not intended "just" for suffering and punishment, but rather, it is a place of correction for souls. Gehinnom is like surgery. Would a crippled person be willing to remain disabled all his life if he had the opportunity to undergo a painful surgery lasting only a month, after which he could walk for the rest of his life? Surely he would be willing to undergo the surgery, because the result concerns a whole and long life. Not only that, but he would also express immense gratitude to the doctor who "hurt" him, knowing the operation was for his greatest benefit, for his correction and success. In the World to Come, each soul discovers that the suffering was only for the purpose of correction and atonement, and knows exactly what it corrects and for what it is grateful to Hashem for the suffering, because Hashem is "the healer of all flesh," who corrects the souls for the good eternal life of Gan Eden.

Just as in this world, every patient wants to be healed and is willing to pay for his healing and thank his doctor, so too does every soul in the World to Come thank its Creator.

However, no one has to suffer in Gehinnom. The wicked only suffer because they opposed their divine nature, just like someone who puts their hand in a fire and then gets burnt. So too, the wicked follows his heart’s desires, falls, and damages his spirituality. He arrives in the World to Come blemished—his sins and desires clung to him, and he needs to cleanse and heal from them, like someone needing a painful surgery after a lifetime of smoking and drinking. Hashem has mercy even on sinners, which is why He gave them the opportunity to repent at any stage of their lives. Even after death, He created Gehinnom and soul reincarnations that allow cleansing from sins and granting entry into eternal Gan Eden. Hashem, in His compassion, allows for the rectification of sins still in this world through repentance, prayer, and charity. For this purpose, we were given Yom Kippur, which atones for sins each year. Many small and large suffering situations we experience in our lives are meant to atone for accumulated sins to spare us from punishment in the afterlife. Everything is done for our benefit, with the aim of reaching the World to Come as whole and corrected as possible, without the need for additional purifications.

We must trust Hashem in every situation, for He does everything with mercy and for our good. Our role is to accept everything with love. We must place ourselves in the hands of the Creator like a small child in the hands of his mother. Even if she takes him to receive a painful injection, he does not cease loving her because, in his innocence, he knows deep down that his mother does everything for him and his good, out of love and not hatred. We are all Hashem's sons and daughters, and we must trust in Him completely, knowing all He desires is to benefit us. With this trust, we will overcome all difficulties and fears.

Regarding the question of free will, we find that a person’s choice is only between harming themselves or listening to their father. It’s just like someone who decides to smoke against the doctors’ advice even though he knows it will harm him in the future, while another chooses to live a healthy lifestyle. The Torah is the world’s manufacturer’s instruction manual, teaching us how to avoid harming our souls. It teaches us how to build good relationships, good child rearing, and how to be happier both in this world and the next. Whoever decides to act on their own wisdom harms themselves, even if they enjoy the fleeting smoke of a cigarette or the addictive high from external pleasures.

Just as everyone has the free choice to act wrongly and harm themselves in external matters like health, so too do they have free will spiritually. We must not forget that choosing the good also has levels: there are people who choose to be average and mediocre, and there are those who invest in Torah study, intentional prayer, in mitzvot, and in acts of kindness, choosing how good to be. As the size of the mitzvot and investment grows, so does the reward and spiritual closeness to the Creator in the World to Come, which is the true source of happiness for souls. This wonderful purpose transcends all worldly thoughts and imaginings.

Here it is worth noting a very strange fact: each of us can somewhat imagine Gehinnom in our minds because Gehinnom embodies ideas and expressions familiar from this world, but who among us can imagine a vivid and tangible portrayal of Gan Eden? The sages say about Gan Eden: "The righteous sit with their crowns on their heads enjoying the radiance of the Shechinah" (Berachot 17a). Can such spiritual happiness be imagined?

I believe the reason for this illustration disparity lies in the fact that Gehinnom is still connected to this world’s concepts, the very need for corrections and suffering, the reincarnation of souls, and atonement of sins, which are merely the means leading to reward. But Gan Eden represents the final, eternal destination that is beyond this world. Therefore, it seems that there are no human illustrations or expressions that can properly portray it, even in imagination.

Any idea we can envision still belongs to worldly, physical concepts—a world of falsehood. Therefore, we can strengthen our awareness of the wonderful purpose of Gan Eden, which surpasses all worldly thoughts and imaginings, a purpose higher than all purposes, a place beyond reasonable depiction, for it is the place of true and eternal happiness: "No eye has seen, God, but You, who acted for those who wait for Him" (Isaiah 64:3), and King David said: "One thing I asked from Hashem, it alone do I seek: to live in the house of Hashem all the days of my life, to gaze at the beauty of Hashem, and to visit His sanctuary" (Psalms 27:4). The sages said: "One hour of bliss in the World to Come is better than all the life of this world" (Pirkei Avot 4:17). This purpose surpasses all. May we merit it with few sins and sufferings.