Why Does Torah Talk About Punishment? A Jew, the Torah says again and again, must connect to G‑d from the heart. When you serve G‑d out of fear of retribution, you may be better off than someone who does not serve G‑d at all, but you’re not serving Him from your heart. You are serving Him only to avoid pain. If so, why do you need to know about punishment—whether in this world or in the afterlife and Gehinnom? Why do the classic works on Jewish ethics find it necessary to discuss these things? Simply because you need to know...