Shalom Friends;
Our Yom Kippur vort is being sponsored by Yossie and Elisheva Schulman of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated l’zecher nishmas Elisheva’s Grandmother Zemira bas Nechama. To Yossie, Elisheva and the Schulman family, may you all be inscribed and sealed for only simcha, success, good health, nachas from your children, and only good things in the year to come and to at least 120 years. Many thanks for your sponsorship and your continued multitude of kindnesses.
Friends, you can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
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In Yom Kippur’s leyning of Torah, we read posukim from Parshat Acharei Mot regarding the two he-goats which Aharon HaKohen takes as a sin offering:
“From among the B’nei Yisrael he [Aharon] shall take two he-goats as a sin offering…. and stand them before Hashem, at the entrance of the [Ohel Mo’ed] Tent of Meeting.
Aharon shall place lots upon the two he-goats: one lot for Hashem and on lot for Azazel.
And Aharon shall bring near the he-goat upon which the lot for Hashem has been drawn and shall make it a sin offering. And the he-goat, upon which the lot for Azazel has been drawn, shall be stood alive before Hashem, to affect atonement upon it, to send it to Azazel in the wilderness.” (Sefer Vayikra, Perek 16, posukim 5-10 as rendered by Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, in his sefer “Unlocking The Torah Text.”)
Further in the Parsha, the text continues:
“And Aharon will place his two hands upon the living he-goat and shall confess upon it all of the iniquities of the B’nei Yisrael and all of their rebellious sins in [among — as rendered in the Artscroll Yom Kippur Machzor] all of their sins, and he shall place them upon the head of the he-goat and he shall send it at the hand of a designated man to the wilderness.
And the he-goat shall bear upon it all of their iniquities to a desert land, and he shall send the he-goat into the wilderness.” (Sefer Vayikra, Perek 16, posukim 21-22 as rendered by Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, in his sefer “Unlocking The Torah Text.”)
As a matter of context, Aharon, as Kohen Gadol purchases, from his personal funds, and brings a bull as a sin offering (Korban Chatos) to atone for himself and for his family. (citing commentary in the Artscroll Stone Chumash on Sefer Vayikra, Perek 16, posuk 6, page 638) There is a side opinion by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, which is not universally recognized or accepted, indicating that the bull would also atone for sins of the other Kohanim.
Continuing with this context, commentary in the Artscroll Stone Chumash (Sefer Vayikra, Perek 16, posuk 16, page 640-641) explains:
The sin for which the bull and the he-goat [for Hashem] atone is that of contamination of the Beit Hamikdash and its sanctities, meaning… [those who] entered the Beit Hamikdash or ate the flesh of offerings while in a tamei (contaminated) state. (citing Rashi)
The offerings atone both for sins of contamination that were done intentionally, and for sins that were committed unintentionally.
As for the “sent goat”, the goat for Azazel, commentary in the Artscroll Stone Chumash (Sefer Vayikra, Perek 16, posuk 8, page 639) explains:
….The Kohen Gadol would tie a red woolen strip to the head of the goat for Azazel… When the goat for Azazel was pushe over the precipice [cliff], the red wool would miraculously turn white, to symbolize that Israel’s sins had been forgiven. (citing Mesechta Yuma 39a)
…Azazel. The name symbolizes “Az”, strong, and “Eil” mighty. It is a lofty, hard cliff. (citing Rashi; Sifra)
All of this brings us to a discussion regarding the “why” and the implications of the Kohen Godol’s confession of B’nei Yisrael’s sins over the “sent goat.”
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin writes, in his sefer “Unlocking The Torah Text” on Parshat Acharei Mot (pages 114-118):
What is the implication of the confessions uttered by the Kohen Gadol over the “sent goat” on behalf of the entire nation? What role does this confession play in the atonement of Yom Kippur? Isn’t atonement a private,personal process best experienced individually rather than communally?
Are the sins truly transferred to the “head of the goat,” as the text seems to indicate? Does the animal really become a spiritual “scapegoat” for our sins? Such an idea seems completely antithetical to [Torah] law and its prohibition of all superstitious practice. (citing Sefer Vayikra, Perek 19, posuk 26 [i.e. practices of sorcerers — gathering of blood in ditches, foretelling future events by means of incantations. (citing Ramban), after slaughter eating animal flesh while there is sign of life (blood) left in it… (citing Rashi) Artscroll Stone Chumash, page 663] Over and over again, the Torah speaks of the doctrine of of personal responsibility….. Atonement for sins can only be effected through… Tshuva, return, which entails recognition of past transgressions, remorse over… [them] and a commitment to future change. To suggest that the Tshuva process can somehow be short-circuited through the magical act of transference of sins seems to fly in the face of all that we believe.
Why does the Torah mandate that a portion of this ritual be performed off of Har HaBayit [The Temple Mount]? To whom or to what is this animal being offered? It seems totally inconceivable that… [our religious] tradition, founded on the absolute principle of a single, unified… [Creator], could suddenly embrace a ritual including an off-site offering to another unknown force.
What possible reason… could there be for this procedure? If the “sent goat” was to be a Korban [sacrifice], why was it not offered in the usual manner on Har HaBayit?
…The Rambam, who, as is his wont, offers an intellectual-philosophical explanation for this strange ritual…. Unlike burnt offerings [of the Beit HaMikdash ritual], which are consumed in the fire of the Mizbeiyach [the Sanctuary’s altar], sin offerings brought as atonement for severe transgressions are burned outside the… camp [of Israel]. This ritual distinction, the Rambam suggests, mirrors a deeper philosophical divide. Far from creating the symbolic “sweet savor to Hashem, ” of celebratory burnt offerings, the burning of a sin offering reflects the destruction of the negative. Though this ritual, the supplicant makes known his desire that the sin which necessitated the Korban be erased, destroyed and eradicated from memory. The Torah, therefore, mandates that specific sin offerings be consumed outside the camp. Atonement can only be achieved if the people distance themselves from the sins associated with the burning of these offerings.
When it comes to the “sent goat”, the Rambam continues, our tradition goes one further. So severe are the year-long communal sins represented by this offering, that it is sent as far away from the camp as possible, to the desolate wilderness of Azazel.
….”Sins are not physical burdens which can be removed from one man’s back and placed on another.” (citing Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim Perek 3, posuk 46) Rather, the drama of the “sent goat” ritual is designed to strike fear and awe in the hearts of onlookers and move them towards the difficult task of personal Tshuva. The message of the ritual is clear: as the goat embarks on its final journey…, symbolically accompanied by the sins of the people, all present should cleanse and distance themselves from past failures and transgressions by committing themselves to concrete future change. (ibid, Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim)
…Perhaps the most obvious pshat-based explanation for the ritual of the “sent goat” is… offered by the Abravanel and the Akeidat Yitzchak, and elaborated upon… by Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch. The rituals within the Beit HaMikdash on Yom Kippur reflect a fundamental truth central to the very fabric of creation. In order to afford man with free choice, for every good Hashem creates, He necessarily fashions a concomitant evil. The challenge facing each individual witnessing the dramatic ritual of the “sent goat” is dramatically clear: Which path will you choose? Will you dedicate your life to the sanctified worship of Hashem; will you “ascend his altar,” or will you Chas V’Challila, allow… base impulses to lead you down the destructive path “to Azazel?” (Abravanel on Sefer Vayikra, Perek 16, posukim 1-22, Akeidat Yitzchak on Sefer Vayikra, sha’ar 63, Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Sefer Vayikra, Perek 16, posuk 10)
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them and that the twice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes, at government expense; both due to alt-leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized Yassamnik gunpoint. May our dear brother Jonathan Pollard be liberated and truly free — only upon his return home to Israel, and that the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem, as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of four years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
As a Rav back in the Old Country would say, “Tefillah Kasher V’Tzom Kal — Daven Hard, Fast Easy!” May You, All of My Brothers, Sisters, be Sealed, for another Year of Life… Now and Always!
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Moshe Burt is an Oleh, writer and commentator on news and events in Eretz Yisrael. He is the founder and director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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