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I was out to eat the other day and in the restaurant, where one can take more sauces, there was a pile of dvd'd that people can take for free with the Tikkun Habrit movie on it. I ended up watching the whole movie on Youtube out of curiosity and was pretty shocked by the content in terms of the punishment one receives.

He was saying things such as you receive Gehinnom for this no matter how young you are when you commit the sin, and the Hell lasts forever (or at least definitely longer than the 12 months that seems to be the common agreement among orthodox judaism).

On top of that in other videos, such as the one labeled GEHINNOM The Movie, he talks about the endless torture and gruesome punishment that await for us which doesn't seem very much in touch with the Hashem I learned about growing up (this version seems far more bloodthirsty and much less forgiving kaviyochel).

He takes people explaining Gehinnom differently as heretics, such as Rabbi Manis Friedman, whom I always enjoyed. When I reached that part I immediately stopped watching because this all seemed completely wrong to me. Does anyone know about him and his authenticity in what he says?

I only ask this because I want to make sure I am listening to the right sources of information.

DISCLAIMER: I also want to add that if the reality is that the punishment is worse than I originally thought, I don't necesarily have a problem with that in a religious sense (although I may not like it for selfish reasons, the truth is the truth).

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  • Kabbalah has many statements regarding the severity of wasting seed. That's where he takes these ideas from. But if you want a pshatist approach, it's significantly less severe than many other sins. I've found this Hebrew FB post to be insightful in hashkafic and halachic terms (BTW the poster is a rabbi).
    – Harel13
    Nov 20 at 21:19
  • I think (and hope) that most stuff he says isn’t true but rather is just a scare tactic to get people to follow Gd
    – Curious Yid
    Nov 21 at 0:30
  • 3
    rationalistjudaism.com/p/…
    – mbloch
    Nov 21 at 3:57

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There is a strong rabbinic mainstream consensus who would tell you to stay far, far away from him and his ideas. (Ask Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom -- who has successfully negotiated complex disagreements with the Israeli Chief Rabbinate -- and who has been the subject of vile personal attacks from Yaron Reuven.)

As far as his obsession with the punishment for one particular sin, this has been addressed here in other questions. There is some very harsh language in some sources about it, but then later authorities are pretty clear that it is in fact exaggerated. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, for instance, writes to "Mr. ABC" that Teshuva is possible, just as for any other aveirah.

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