Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Yom Kippur יום כפור – The Scapegoat

One of the mitzvahs for Yom Kippur, when the Temple stood in ancient times, was the ritual of the scapegoat. It is described in the book of Leviticus (16:7-9, 20-22). In it two identical goats are placed in front of the High Priest. Two lots are drawn randomly one labeled "to Hashem" and the other "to Azazel" (עזאזל) and placed on the goats. The goat marked "to Hashem" is brought as a sin offering. Next the other goat, while it is still alive is placed in front of the Cohen Gadol. He then places his hands on the goat's head and confesses the various sins of the house of Israel. After that the scapegoat is taken into the wilderness and released. The Chumash then concludes that the scapegoat has taken all of their transgressions to a "cut off land".

The commentaries discuss the word Azazel. Some render it as the name of a place that it is rugged with high cliffs. Az, עז, literally means "bold" and many use it as a description of the place. The word itself can be read as "go out to", אזל, to "bold", עז. The hint is that boldness is associated with sin. The Ramban and others see it as the name of a fallen angel.

The Cli Yakar and the Ramban see the scapegoat to a certain extent as a concession to evil. The Cli Yakar draws a parallel to the two goats Ya'akov had prepared for his father Yitzchak, when he received the blessing intended for Esau by deceit. The Ramban explores the use of the word שעיר for a goat and draws parallels to the bad side of Esav, who dwelled in the land of Seer שעיר, and to the use of the Chumash of this word to describe a pagan demon (see VaYikra 17:7). The basic idea in the language of the popular saying "is to give the devil his due".

The central idea of the scapegoat is to blame somebody else not only for all of one's sins but for everything else that is wrong in society. So to speak the sinner is saying, "I would have been fine except because of this other person and now that he's gone I will in fact be fine". Therefore the High Priest solemnly blames all the sins of the nation on this goat then sends the goat into a jungle. So to speak everything that is wrong in the world is the fault of this goat. In this way it is hoped that the bad will repent even though they used an evasive maneuver. 

There are other lessons to be learned. From the word Azazel we learn that brazenness is often a vehicle for sin. In addition one who is engrossed in sin tends to be driven into a rugged wilderness and may find himself on the edge of a cliff. In civilization people are trusting and polite for that reason brazen wrong doing can continue for quite some time. However these tricks will not work against wild animals in a jungle particularly if done by a lamb.

The Sforno focuses on the lot picked by the High Priest and compares it to asking for the word of G-d. He then quotes the book of Proverbs (16:33), "The lot is cast in the lap but, from Hashem is all judgment". Rashi explains that a person casts his own lots after that Hashem chooses each man's portion. The thrust seems to be that a person has free will to choose between good and evil and based on that choice Hashem may place him in a rugged wilderness or in the inner sanctuary of the Temple.



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The High Holiday piyut HaYom (היום) is sung at 8:32

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