Tzoah Rotachat
Encyclopedia
Tzoah rotakhat in the Talmud and Zohar is a location in Gehinnom where the soul of a Jew who committed certain sins is sent for punishment. This form of punishment is cited as being of extreme nature, if not the most extreme, in the sense that those individuals sentenced there are not given relief even on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...

, and are not released after the standard twelve month period.

Zohar

This defined location is quoted in the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...

;

Babylonian Talmud

The Babylonian Talmud, in contrast to the Zohar, lists the cause for a Jew being sent to Tzoah Rotachat as "all who scoff at the words of the wise men (i.e. Chazal
Chazal
Chazal or Ḥazal is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha",...

) is judged in Tzoah Rotachat". The Talmud Bavli also hints that the punishment has more of a physical implication to it. Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...

 explains the physical aspect of the punishment by noting the correlation of the two themes (scoffing and tzoah rotachat) as being based on the verse of Kohelet, paraphrased as "ולעג הרבה יגיעת בשר". Rashi writes that he who engages in "excessive scoffing" (the exegesis here involves switching the "ה" of "להג" and replacing it with a "ע", as they both are one of the five guttural sounds ) (the former part of the verse) is met with the second part of the same "straining of the flesh", essentially being judged excessively (straining) of his body.

The presence of Jesus the Nazarene in boiling excrement is one of the disputed references to Jesus in the Talmud
Jesus in the Talmud
The Talmud contains passages that some scholars have concluded are references to Christian traditions about Jesus.The history of textual transmission of these passages is complex and scholars are not agreed concerning which passages are original, and which were added later or removed later in...

. Onkelos
Onkelos
Onkelos is the name of a famous convert to Judaism in Tannaic times . He is considered to be the author of the famous Targum Onkelos .-Onkelos in the Talmud:...

 raises up Yeshu
Yeshu
Yeshu is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in Rabbinic literature. The oldest works in which references to Yeshu occur are the Tosefta and the Talmud, although some scholars consider the references to Yeshu to be post-Talmudic additions....

 by necromancy, and asks him about his punishment in Gehinnom Jesus replies to be in "boiling excrement.";

Rabbi Yosef Karo

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo of Toledo
Toledo
- Places :Belize:*Toledo District*Toledo SettlementBrazil:*Pedro de Toledo, São Paulo*Toledo, ParanáColombia:*Toledo, Norte de SantanderPhilippines:*Toledo City, CebuSpain:*Toledo, Spain *Kingdom of Toledo...

 (1488–1575), in his Kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

 work Maggid Meisharim ("Sermonizer on Ethics"), explains that just as in the human digestive order the liver, heart and other organs receive their sustaining nutrients from the ingested foods and whatever is of no need and "unworkable" is excreted to give fertility to works of low value (Sitra Achra "other side"), so too in heavenly judgment this soul is sent to the spiritual level equivalent of excrement and those that derive benefit thereof. As to the concept of boiling Rabbi Yosef relays as to imply during the time of heat and anger of that level (i.e. when the oven is hot), the soul is put there. Rabbi Yosef goes on to compare the idol worship of Peor
Heresy of Peor
The heresy of Peor is an event related in the Torah at Numbers 25:1-15. Back references to the event occur in Numbers 25:18 and 31:16, Deuteronomy 4:3, Joshua 22:17, Hosea 9:10; Psalm 106:28...

 as giving sustenance to this specific level of Sitra Achra.

Rabbi Yehuda Lowe's explanation

Judah Loew ben Bezalel
Judah Loew ben Bezalel
Judah Loew ben Bezalel, alt. Loewe, Löwe, or Levai, widely known to scholars of Judaism as the Maharal of Prague, or simply The MaHaRaL, the Hebrew acronym of "Moreinu ha-Rav Loew," was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic, and philosopher who served as a leading rabbi in the city of...

 of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 (c.1520–1609), in his work Netzach Yisroel ("Eternity of Israel"), provides an in-depth analysis as to this seemingly unconnected sequence of action and punishment. Rabbi Lowe explains, as a general rule of thumb, that the logic of Chazal
Chazal
Chazal or Ḥazal is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha",...

 is of a unrelated plane to that of common human intellect. Thus, one who scoffs at it is judged in the opposite of this higher plane, i.e. Tzoah Rotachat, which is considered a matter of irrelation to the relatively superior human body (since it is released as waste) and the antithesis of godly knowledge and presence (as is brought in Talmud Sukka p. 42b that one is obligated to distance himself from the excrement of a child who has the ability of speech since this excrement produces an intense odor comparative to infant who cannot yet speak ). Rabbi Lowe concludes that excrement is the polar opposite of refined godly intellect and worship and is thus the natural consequence of the scoffer thereof and of the Jew who chooses idol worship and Shituf
Shituf
is a term used in Jewish sources for the worship of the God of Israel in a manner which Judaism does not deem to be monotheistic. The term connotes a theology that is not outright polytheistic, but also should not be seen as purely monotheistic...

.
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