BY: Liza David
Yom Kippur is one of the most important Jewish holidays. After ten days of repentance, we hope that God seals us into the Book of Life. In this week’s Torah portion, Acharei Mot, God mandates the procedure of observing this holiday. However, the process described in this chapter of Vayikra is very different from our modern day version of the event. One such distinction is the goat for the “Azazel” in the text.
Many commentators have different theories as to what exactly the Azazel is. According to Rashi, the Azazel is a location. It is a high, cut off peak. Rashi understands this from the text : [אֶל אֶרֶץ גְּזֵרָה[1. The Rabbis translate Azazel in a similar manner, claiming that Azazel is a hard, strong place[2]. They understand this from the word itself. They interpret “az” as strong and “izuz” as mighty[3].
Yom Kippur is one of the most important Jewish holidays. After ten days of repentance, we hope that God seals us into the Book of Life. In this week’s Torah portion, Acharei Mot, God mandates the procedure of observing this holiday. However, the process described in this chapter of Vayikra is very different from our modern day version of the event. One such distinction is the goat for the “Azazel” in the text.
Many commentators have different theories as to what exactly the Azazel is. According to Rashi, the Azazel is a location. It is a high, cut off peak. Rashi understands this from the text : [אֶל אֶרֶץ גְּזֵרָה[1. The Rabbis translate Azazel in a similar manner, claiming that Azazel is a hard, strong place[2]. They understand this from the word itself. They interpret “az” as strong and “izuz” as mighty[3].
The Ramban explains that the goat cast for Azazel is not a sacrifice. Since the goat was not slaughtered it cannot be considered a sacrifice (this is in comparison to the first goat which was killed for God). However, linking the word “שעירם” with the word “עז” since they both mean goat, Ramban puts forward his own idea as to what Azazel is. Ramban references Azazel in connection with Esau. He noticed that the language used to describe Esau,[כלו כאדרת שער,[4 contains the word “שְּׂעִיר” which, through ibn Ezra’s idea connects Esau with the Azazel. The idea of Esau as “שְּׂעִיר” and therefore a representative of the Azazel lies in juxtaposition with Jacob who is תם [5] and the representative of God in this scenario. If Jacob and Esau are brothers, then it would seem that God and Azazel are brothers ruling together. This does not fit into the idea of a monotheistic God. Instead, the comparison of Esau to Azazel shows us, that Azazel represents evil. Esau himself is not evil, but his offspring are evil who attempt to destroy Israel. Combining the idea of Azazel as a location and Azazel as evil, Azazel is an area of evil.
The concept of evil is an important one in Judaism, especially on the holiest day of the year. On the holiest day of the year, we are reminded that evil exists. In fact, we are required to send our collective sins to this evil place. The reason for this is twofold. The first reason is to maintain a sacred place with God. In order to keep ourselves a holy people and to maintain a connection with God, we need to have a sacred space where God can be with us. A sacred space can only be created if the people banish their sins away. What is very interesting is that evil now has a specific space just like God has a specific space. If the people of Israel did not send their sins away, evil would encroach on their sacred space. Then God would not be able to have a relationship with them.
The second is so that the people are forced to confront evil. In each human being there are inclinations for good and inclinations for evil. Sin is part of the human inclination for evil. Sometimes people do not choose to purposefully sin or be malicious. By sending a goat to Azazel it forces the people to acknowledge and attempt to clean the evil within.
Sending the goat to Azazel is only part of the ritual (and in fact, the second part). According to the Torah, the people are supposed to present two goats; the first which is slaughtered for God and the second which is sent to Azazel. The first goat is used as part of a purification ritual. Aaron purifies the area of the mishkan and atones for Israel’s uncleanness with the blood of the sin-offering[6]. The second goat absorbs all of Israel’s communal sins. Aaron places his hands and transfers the sins to the live goat. This procedure shows us the stages of repentance. One must physically clean the space around him or herself. Only after the physical space and one’s exterior body are pure can one move on to the next step which is removing all the sins from within oneself. The atmosphere must be right for the true and meaningful prayer to begin. Not only that, but all activities of cleansing require physical action. Aaron needed to sprinkle the blood everywhere to purify the objects. According to Rabbi Soloveitchik in his work Al haTeshuvah, “Unexpressed thoughts of teshuvah are meaningless … A confession is not just simple lip service, but which emanates from an anguished soul and an aching heart…”[7] The action of confessing and then transferring the sin solidifies the repentance and cleanliness of the soul just as the action of cleaning a place solidifies the holiness of the space.
One more interesting component of the Azazel which seems to have been lost in recent times is the idea of repentance as a community. The Azazel-goat is infused with the transgressions of all the people. Today we value the individual tefillah and relationship with God. Nevertheless, the idea that we are all responsible for each other is a remarkable thought. We oftentimes tend to focus on ourselves in prayer. Maybe instead of solely praying for oneself to be written in the Book of Life, we should all be more inclusive and wish it on the entire community.
Shabbat Shalom!
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