
For Chasidic Jews hell is described as a long table
surrounded by many chairs. In each sits a person who
is hungry, almost starving. In the middle of the table
sits a pot of the most delicious, nutritious, wonderful-
smelling soup. The people are salivating from the aroma,
anticipating the taste of the soup. Each person is given
a very long-handled spoon. They use their spoons to reach
into the pot, turn the spoons around to eat, but the handles
are so long that they hit their faces and the soup spills.
Thus, hell is one continuous vain seeking for fulfillment.
In heaven the same scene exists with a distinct difference:
Instead of dipping their very long-handled spoons into the
pots, turning their spoons around, hitting their faces, and
spilling the soup, they dip into the pot and then reach
across the table to feed one another.