Talmud: Eiruvin (19:1) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Those who pass through the valley of weeping turn it into a water spring; moreover, the early rain covers it with blessings” (Psalms 84:7)? “Those who pass through” ‘Overei’, these are people who transgress ‘Overin’ the will of HaKodosh Boruch Hu. “Valley ‘Emek’ indicates that their punishment is that Gehinom is deepened ‘Ma’amikin’ for them. “Of weeping ‘Bocha’” and “turn it into a water spring ‘Ma’ayan Yeshisuhu’,” indicates that they weep ‘Bochin’ and make tears flow like a spring ‘Ma’ayan’ of the foundations ‘Shitin’, meaning like a spring that descends to the foundations of the earth. “Moreover, the early rain covers it with blessings,” indicates that they accept the justice of HaShem’s judgment, and say before Him: Master of the Universe, You have judged properly, You have acquitted properly, You have condemned properly, and it is befitting that You have prepared Gehinom for the wicked and the Garden of Eden for the righteous.
Gehinnom: This is usually translated as “Hell,” but a better translation would be “the Supernal Washing Machine.” Because that’s exactly how it works. The way our soul is cleansed in Gehinnom is similar to the way our clothes are cleansed in a washing machine, and only after going through a wash cycle can the clothes be worn again. We don’t put our socks in the washing machine to punish them. We put them through what seems like a rough and painful procedure only to make them clean and wearable again. So too with the soul. Every act we do in our lifetime leaves an imprint on our soul. The good we do, brightens and elevates our soul, and every wrongdoing leaves a stain that needs to be cleansed. If, at the end of our life, we leave this world without fixing the wrongs we have done, our soul is unable to reach its place of rest on high. We must go through a cycle of deep cleansing to prepare it for entry into Heaven. Of course, this whole process can be avoided. If we truly regret the wrong we have done and make amends with the people we have hurt, we can leave this world with a clean slate. That’s why our Sages said, “Repent one day before you die.” And what should you do if you don’t know which day that will be? Repent today.
Rectification: Rectification of the blemishes that came about from transgressions.
Refinement: Refining the good from the bad.
There is a Way: In serving HaShem in which one can rectify the damage without the need for the refinement process of Gehinom.
Teshuvah with Crying: And becomes aroused to repentance through sorry feelings of regret as explained earlier.
...cry and drop tears like a spring that descends to the foundations of the earth...... In other words, the rectification and refinement come as a result of the tears of crying in Gehinom. However, there is a way of avoiding the necessity to come down to the refinement and purification of Gehinom. That way is that, if, whilst he is still in this world, he does Teshuvah with crying.
Accordingly, we can explain another elucidation in the Possuk עֹבְּרֵי בְּעֵמֶק הַ בָכָא that instead of referring to Gehinom, [the Possuk] is referring to the difficulties of earning a living [and] that because of this one needs to succumb to rectification through the crying of Teshuvah.
