Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection

In Judaism, there is no eternal hell or everlasting damnation like in other religions. Instead, the afterlife includes a temporary process called Gehinnom (often translated as purgatory), where the soul is cleansed of its spiritual impurities—much like washing mud off a candy before eating it.

This purification lasts up to 11 months for the righteous and a maximum of 12 months for the wicked, determined by the heavenly court. That’s why we recite Kaddish for only 11 months after someone passes—assuming they’ve already atoned and are being purified. Hell in Judaism is not punishment forever; it’s a merciful cleansing so the soul can ultimately draw close to God in the World to Come.
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Question asked by: Reena Freedman Watts (Houston, Texas)
To be featured on an upcoming Hey Rabbi Episode, email your video question to: heyrabbi@torchweb.org

Released as Podcast on January 15, 2026
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About the Host:
Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org
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Keywords:
#heyrabbi, #afterlife, #Gehinnom, #Purgatory, #nohell , #Kaddish, #soulcleansing , #purification , #WorldToCome, #JewishBeliefs, #torah
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Hey Rabbi, tell me about Jewish ideas of hell. Hell? Well, Jews don't believe in hell. Jews believe in purgatory. In other religions, they use hell as a threat. You better do this or you're going to hell. Eternal damnation. There's no such thing in Judaism. Hell is a process of cleansing the soul. So, imagine you give your child a candy and the candy falls into the mud. They're not going to put that mud in their mouth because it's dirty, it's filthy.
What are they going to do? They're going to take it, put it under the sink and wash it down. That is hell in the Jewish concept. It's cleansing the soul from its impurities. In the process of our life, we were not able to cleanse our soul. And we have purgatory, which is a very temporary state for the soul to cleanse itself so that it can be close to God in the heavens. How temporary is the purgatory?
Up to 11 months for a righteous and up to 12 months for the wicked. Who's making that determination of time? So, that is in the heavenly courts, which is why Kaddish, after someone passes, is recited for 11 months, not for 12 months. Because we assume that everyone has done proper repentance and therefore received proper atonement for their sins and is only a maximum of 11 months of purgatory.