‘Sheol’ to Life: Refusing Comfort, Defying Despair

What happens when reality tells you something you cannot bear to accept? The Torah gives us two striking examples — Jacob and Korach — both refusing to accept reality, but for very different reasons and with very different outcomes.

If you read the Torah carefully, you’ll notice something fascinating about these two encounters – they feature a dark dark word “Sheol,” often translated as “the grave,” that is only used in these two contexts in the entire Torah – three times with Jacob and twice with Korach.

The first is in the story of Jacob’s grief over Joseph. Jacob invokes Sheol three times to emphasise the pain he is in at the loss of his son and the situation with Benjamin: “Ki ered el beni avel Sheolah”  – “I will go down to my son mourning, to Sheol” (Genesis 37:35). Again in Genesis 42:38, fearing the loss of Benjamin: “V’horadtem et seivati b’ra’ah Sheolah”  – “You will bring down my gray head in evil to Sheol.” And the third time, in this week’s parsha Vayigash, when Judah pleads for Benjamin’s life: “V’haya ki yir’eh ki ein hana’ar… v’horad et seivat avdecha b’ra’ah Sheolah” (Genesis 44:31).

What does Sheol mean? The rabbis argue. Rashi alludes to Sheol as Gehinnom  – a spiritual purgatory, suggesting Jacob feared eternal judgment. Ibn Ezra disagrees, saying it simply means the grave. Either way, Jacob was in a dark place. His words sound like despair. Yet, as Rabbi Sacks explains, his refusal to be comforted was not because he gave up hope, but because he refused to give up hope. The Midrash says, “One can be comforted for one who is dead, but not for one who is still living.” Jacob could not accept consolation because deep down he believed Joseph was still alive. His grief lacked closure because his faith in the possibility of life endured. To mourn fully would have been, in his mind, a betrayal. His refusal to be comforted was an act of loyalty and hope. Jacob refused to accept reality – not out of denial, but out of faith.

The second context is in Parshat Korach, when the earth swallows Korach and his followers: “Vayerdu hem chayim Sheolah”  – “They went down alive into Sheol.” Korach also refused to accept reality, but for the opposite reason. He could not accept that leadership was not his. He could not accept that Moses and Aaron were chosen by God. His refusal was not rooted in hope but in ego. He clung to his ambition and pride, and that defiance led him to destruction.

Two figures, two refusals, two radically different outcomes. Jacob’s refusal kept hope alive and led to reunion and redemption. Korach’s refusal kept arrogance alive and led to rebellion and ruin.

And yet, in both stories, the Torah adds a surprising word formula almost as an antedote to “Sheol”: Chayim  – “Alive.” Korach’s followers go down alive into Sheol. And Jacob’s redemption comes with the words: “Od Yosef Chai” – “Joseph is still alive.” Life flickers even in the abyss. For Jacob, that spark of life was the truth that his son lived. For Korach, it was the possibility of teshuvah – and indeed, the Sages teach that his sons repented at the last moment. Sheol in the Torah is not a place of finality; it is a place where the future seems lost, yet life still remains.

This is the Jewish story. Jeremiah later echoed Jacob’s cry: “Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted.” Why? Because to refuse comfort is to refuse to surrender hope. Jews have carried that refusal through centuries of exile, through Babylon, through the rivers of Babylon, through Tisha B’Av. Napoleon, hearing Jews weep for Jerusalem after 1,700 years, said: “A people who can mourn so long will one day have it restored.” And so it was.

Obviously, every situation demands a different response and there are occasions where false hope is probably not the right practical idea so this needs to be treated carefully. However, even in my case where I am suffering from a terminal illness I have hopes that the journey will be as pain free and as long as possible – it may not be the ultimate outcome I would want but it pays to be refuse to give in.

Jacob did eventually see Joseph again. Rachel’s children did return to the land. Jerusalem is once again our home. All the evidence may suggest otherwise, but Jews never believed the evidence because they had something stronger: an unbreakable hope.

So, if you feel the abyss calling, remember Jacob and Korach. Both refused to accept reality, but one did so to keep hope alive, and the other to keep ego alive. Our challenge is to choose the right kind of refusal – the kind that says, “I will not give up on life, on faith, on the possibility of redemption.” Od Yosef Chai. There is still life. There is still hope.