You're both right.
We believe in gehinom, but it's not what most people think hell is.
Could you elaborate or is it not defined well in Jewish tradition?
Actually their is Gehinom in the Jewish tradition, but its main purpose inst exactly revenge and "G-d's rath" as others imagine, but its mainly a place to purify souls. But that doesnt mean that its an easy experience and the worst pain in this world is 60 times less then the least there. (I belive I have the # right).
Yes it's more of a cleansing than a punishment and you do have the number right but the comparison is to physical fire.
It's a spiritual "place", not a physical place.
This cleansing can also take place through this world with physical suffering. Some people have their gehinom
on earth and that is considered a blessing actually.
My Rabbi often puts it this way: heaven and hell is really the same "place". It's the Truth. For those who lived Truth it's heaven and for those who did not it's hell.
For those who have lived falsehood gehinom is that painful process of breaking out of those misconceptions and realizing how they've lived life in the wrong way. Hopefully people will do here so they don't need to after 120.
Sometimes physical suffering causes a person to look deeper into their life and wakes them up to the fact that he's not living his wife in the proper way and then they can change.
After 120 a person can't change the way they live their life and I suppose that's what makes it so much worse.