el maintained that the divine mercy would grant
them admission into Paradise even without the fires of purgatory(964),
either through the merit of the patriarchs(965) or owing to the deserts of
a son who has been trained to reverence for God, as is indicated by the
legend concerning the Kaddish prayer.(966) In any case, the teaching of
Hillel concerning the all-sufficing mercy of God swept aside the old
hopeless conception that eternal suffering in hell awaits the average man,
which was adhered to by the Christian church in connection with its dogma
of the atoning blood of Christ. Likewise, in the dispute of schools as to
whether or not the bliss of eternal life would be accorded also to the
righteous among the heathen, the more humane view of Joshua ben Hananiah
prevailed over the gloomier one of the Shammaite Eliezer ben Hyrcanos, and
therefore the doctrine became generally accepted, "The righteous of all
nations shall have a share in the world to come."(967)

8. The apocalyptic writers, who largely influenced the New Testament, and
also the Haggadists refer with fond interest to the banquet of the pious
in the world to come, where they would be served with heavenly manna as
bread, with wine preserved from the days of the creation, and with the
flesh of the Leviathan or the fruit of the Tree of Life.(968) On the other
hand they elaborated the tortures of the evil-doers in hell which are to
afford a pleasing sight to the pious in heaven, just as the torments of
the sinners are aggravated by the sight of the righteous enjoying all
delights.(969) But at the same time we meet with a more refined and
spiritual conception of future reward and punishment among the disciples
of R. Jehuda ha Nasi, in the Babylonian Rab, and the Palestinian R.
Johanan and his pupil Simeon ben Lakish. "In the future world," says Rab,
"there are no sensual enjoyments nor passions, but the righteous sit at
the table of God with wreaths upon their heads (like the Greek sages at a
symposium!), feeding on the radiance of the divine majesty, as did the
chosen ones of Israel on the heights of Sinai."(970) R. Johanan teaches,
"All the promises held forth in Scripture in definite form as reward for
the future, refer to the Messianic era, whereas in regard to the bliss
awaiting the pious in the world to come, the words of Isaiah hold good:
'No eye hath seen it, O God, beside Thee.' "(971) Simeon ben Lakish even
went so far as to say, "There is neither hell