In Rosh Hashanah 17a it says “But the heretics; and the informers; and the apostates [apikorsim]; and those who denied the Torah; and those who denied the resurrection of the dead; and those who separated from the ways of the Jewish community and refused to share the suffering; all of these people descend to Gehenna and are judged there for generations and generations,. Gehenna will terminate, but they still will not terminate, as it is stated: “And their form shall wear away the netherworld, so that there be no dwelling for Him” (Psalms 49:15); that is to say, Gehenna itself will be worn away before their punishment has come to an end.” By the time my father was in college he completely stopped believing in torah m’sinai, married a gentile and inadvertently conceived a child with this non Jewish wife (who has neither become a bas Noach nor converted), and has ceased to believe in any deity to any capacity at all, let alone G-d, which makes me worry that he is included in the category that Chazal say will be in Hell perpetually. This has been a source of profound dread and consternation for me because I deeply love my father and sincerely hope for Hashem to have mercy on him, but hearing various shiurim about Gehinnom lasting forever for certain people and reading sources that strongly suggest that a signifiant number of people I love and care about would be indicated in this category has made me unable to enjoy my life and has made constantly anxious and melancholic. To anybody smarter then me, is there something about this issue I’m not understanding, and if not, how can I become okay with this?
submitted by /u/Level_End418
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Source: Reditt