Afterpants: Nether Regions pt 30 (Tzoah Rotachat)

Tzoah Rotachat (TR) is kinda an interesting one in that it is a Hell, specifically for Hebrew people about Hebrew people.

Literally "The Boiling Shit Hell" it apparently resides below Gehinnom (Gehenna) and seems to be composed of the 'spiritual waste' of those residents.

It is also quite hot there, just as the fires of Gehenna create heat and literally boil the 'waste'

(This 2nd link is to Gehenna proper being somewhat different than the Islamic Jahannam)

How do you get there?

Well, you have to understand...in Jewish traditions, there are basically 2 camps..."practicing Jews" and "non-practicing Jews"

Both acknowledge their (and the other camps') "Jewishness" but "non-practitioners" either don't believe in G-d at all, or, if they do, they view him much in the same way that the Deists do (wherein "there's a god...but he's like an absent parent figure...he doesn't care about us and doesn't intervene with our lives)

The reason I bring this up is that the qualification for getting sent to this Hell is a Jewish person who "mocks the words of wise men"

A "practicing Jew" might consider all "non-practitioners" to be "mocking"...(certainly the Hasidim would believe so.) But, as "wise words" are a staple of Hebrew culture even "non-practicing" Jews are wont to pay respect to such things.

Regardless, this Hell (as so many things in Jewish culture) applies ONLY to other Jews.

In my experience, the Hebrew people I've met don't proselytize, they don't try to convert and don't hold non-Jewish people accountable for Jewish beliefs.

This practice is called "keeping a Kosher kitchen" ie...we'll do our thing...everyone else can do their thing.

It's simple and (in my not so humble opinion) wise in and of itself!

Even most practicing Jews don't really believe in Hell...it's, again, more of a cultural position versus a "faith." The prevalent understanding being...."listen...relax...are you a good person? or do you TRY to be a good person...no worries then..."

However...at Afterpants...we're here to discuss the spiritual reality of the afterlife and this particular Nether Region does not bode well for the person who mocks wisdom.

It's permanent (apparently in Judaism...even people in Gehenna get Saturdays off and they're only there for a year so...)

In context of underwear...TR is kinda like an old, wet (moldy...) pair of briefs that you have to wear because everything else in the washer and you only discovered them in the back of your closet during spring cleaning and you can't figure out why they're wet and the thought is kinda disturbing...

Afterpants awards TR a sad 2 out of 5 Hellbriefs. (It would get only 1, but the fact that it applies only to Jewish ppl is affirming for the rest of us...)