לע"נ הרב דוד צבי בן הרב יוסף
לזכות ידיד נפשי האהוב ר' חיים יהושע בן אפרים הכהן שזרעו וכספו ירבו כחול
What is "gehenom"? The Maharal describes gehenom as "העדר" - an absence of reality. The person knows that his soul exists but it is in a realm of nothingness. No thoughts, no pleasure, no interest, no nothing. Absolute nothingness. We can't imagine that because even when in solitary confinement a person still has thoughts, feelings and emotions and can even feel joy. But in gehenom there is no such option. Just a complete absence of reality. Unimaginable suffering לא עלינו.
When one is distanced from Hashem THAT is gehenom. He might not feel it because the cheese danish he eats for breakfast or the refreshing shower he takes give him pleasant physical sensations that cover up the gehenom in his soul but on some level he does feel it. The more connected to the soul, the more he is aware.
The internal anguish one feels because of his lacking in good deeds, proper thoughts and attitudes and particularly his lack of Torah knowledge and acquisition [i.e. that Torah is not PART of him] is an expression of the gehenom that he is experiencing. This comes from the fact that Hashem has turned His face away from this persons neshama [which is even worse that הסתר פנים - Hashem hiding His face].
הצער הפנימי על חסרון ההשלמה של הנשמה במעשים, בידיעות, ובדעות, ביחוד בקנין התורה, הם הם יסורי הגיהנם המתגברים, שהם באים מהפיכת הפנים של הקב"ה מלהאיר על הנשמה, בהופעה תדירית, לפי אותה המדה שהחסירה את קנינה הרוחני, שכל מקור החיים בו תלוי, הוא קנין התורה.
