The Secret of Gan Eden and Gehennom in This World

Class No. 203 | Class 1 - Monday, Parashas Ki Seitzei, 4 Elul 5759 - Comforting Mourners in Bnei Brak

Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a explains how Gan Eden (Paradise) and Gehennom (Hell) are physically located in our world, based on the teachings of the Gemara and Likutey Moharan. Through the wondrous encounter of Rabbah bar Avuha with Eliyahu HaNavi (Elijah the Prophet), we learn about the power of the fragrance of Gan Eden and the tzaddik's ability to draw down comfort and light from there.

What a righteous woman! She has not left us; she did not pass away at all, but rather she is with us and brings us a taste of Gan Eden.

The Gemara in Tractate Bava Metzia (114a) tells the story of Rabbah bar Avuha, who met Eliyahu HaNavi in a non-Jewish cemetery. Eliyahu asked him questions regarding the laws of purity, and Rabbah bar Avuha answered him: "I am barely proficient in the tractates of practical Halachah like Nezikin (Damages) and Moed (Festivals), so how can I know the complex laws of Toharos (Purities) and Kodashim (Holy Things)? I have no parnassah (livelihood) and no free time to study them."

The Location of Gan Eden and Gehennom in This World

To understand how Eliyahu HaNavi reveals himself in the physical world, the Chasam Sofer (Part 6, Responsum 98) explains how Eliyahu descends and clothes himself in a physical body. Our holy Rebbe, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, writes in Likutey Moharan (Torah 22) that Gan Eden and Gehennom are located right here, in this physical world.

Gehennom is the blazing fire beneath the earth. At a depth of dozens of kilometers below the surface, everything is fire, and that is where the wicked are judged. The Gemara in Eruvin and Bava Basra states that there are three entrances to Gehennom: one in the sea, and one in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in Jerusalem.

"Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said: There are two palm trees in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, and smoke rises between them... and this is the entrance to Gehennom" (Eruvin 19a).

There are stories about submarines, such as the INS Dakar, that reached certain areas in the ocean and felt a terrifying downward pull, an immense force dragging them into the "swallowing pit" of the entrance to Gehennom located in the depths of the sea. In contrast, Gan Eden is located in the polar regions, perhaps due to the coolness there. When Eliyahu HaNavi wishes to reveal himself, he arrives at the lower Gan Eden, receives his physical body, and from there travels in a straight line without being restricted by the Shabbos boundaries (Techumin).

A Revelation of Eliyahu or Demons?

The Gemara in Tractates Yevamos (122a), Gittin (66a), and Chullin (105b) relates that several Amoraim (Talmudic sages) had demons that served them and revealed secrets to them from one end of the world to the other. The demons would bring information, much like how scientists today use listening devices and satellites.

If so, the question arises: Who says that Rabbah bar Avuha actually met Eliyahu HaNavi? Perhaps it was a demon that revealed the Halachos to him?

The Maharal of Prague in his Chiddushei Aggados on Bava Metzia, as well as the Chasam Sofer, explain that it was undoubtedly Eliyahu HaNavi himself. The proof for this is that Rabbah bar Avuha established practical Halachah based on his words, and we do not rule Halachah based on demons, but only based on Eliyahu HaNavi who descended and clothed himself in a holy body.

The Fragrance of Gan Eden

Let us return to Rabbah bar Avuha. After he complained about his poverty, Eliyahu HaNavi said to him: "Come with me to Gan Eden." He brought him into Gan Eden, and Rabbah bar Avuha took off his cloak and began gathering leaves from the ground in order to become wealthy.

"As he was about to leave, he heard a voice saying: Who is this that consumes his World to Come in his lifetime like Rabbah bar Avuha?" (Bava Metzia 114a).

Immediately as he began to exit, a Heavenly Voice rang out and said: "Who is this that consumes his World to Come in his lifetime?" Immediately, Rabbah bar Avuha shook out the leaves and threw them away. Even though he discarded the leaves, the fragrance of Gan Eden clung to his cloak. He sold the cloak for twelve thousand golden dinars, purely in the merit of the fragrance of Gan Eden that had attached to it!

From here we learn about the power of the tzaddik. The tzaddik bestows upon the mourners from the hidden light of Gan Eden. In the merit of this holy soul, we merited to feel a little bit of the fragrance of Gan Eden.

May the Omnipresent comfort you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may you know no more sorrow.

Class No. 203