וְיָרְדוּ חַיִּים שְׁאוֹלָה — שֶׁגַּם בִּשְׁאוֹל חוֹשְׁבִים שֶׁהֵם חַיִּים.

הַבְּרָכָה בְּ–וְיָרְדוּ חַיִּים שְׁאוֹלָה, כְּמוֹ בְּנֵי קֹרַח לֹא מֵתוּ, מָקוֹם נִתְבַּצֵּר לָהֶם וְעָשׂוּ תְּשׁוּבָה, כִּי תְּשׁוּבָה מוֹעֶלֶת רַק כָּל עוֹד שֶׁהוּא חַי, וְזוֹהִי הַבְּרָכָה, שֶׁגַּם בִּשְׁאוֹל יִהְיוּ חַיִּים וְיּוּכְלוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת תְּשׁוּבָה.

[With regard to the company of Korach, it is written:]1 “They will go down alive to the grave.” That is, even when in the grave they would think that they were alive.

There is a blessing in “going down alive to the grave.” As [our Sages explain on the similar statement that] “the sons of Korach did not die,”2 “a place was fortified for them [in Gehinnom]” and they repented,3 because repentance is effective only as long as one is alive. [Similarly, regarding those who descended alive into the grave:] The blessing was that even in the grave, they would be alive and able to repent.4

Probing Beneath the Surface

In the Afterlife, souls perceive the Divine Presence directly. The drawback, however, is that at that time, their spiritual level is virtually static. While the prospect of gradual advancement does exist, there are no bold steps forward.

In our present life, we do not perceive G‑dliness directly. Nevertheless, a spark of G‑d’s infinitude is invested within us. This grants us the potential to do teshuvah — to repent — and transform our spiritual level dramatically, radically, advancing from one extreme to another in one moment.

This concept even has practical, legal implications. The Talmud states5 that if a known sinner marries a woman on the condition that he is completely righteous, we consider the marriage binding, because he may have repented at that moment. His single present thought of teshuvah erased — and indeed, elevated — all of his previous actions.6