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YOM
KIPPUR 5767-2006
"The Poetry of Yom Kippur"
Rabbi
Ephraim Buchwald
In
the year 1916, the great American poet, Robert Frost,
penned a poem he entitled, The Road Not Taken.
In this poem Frost talks of two roads that he came upon
as he walked through the woods. Assessing the first
road and then the second, he decided to take the one
that was less traveled, that "was still grassy
and wanted wear." He thought he'd keep the other
road for another occasion, even though he knew deep
down that it was unlikely that he would ever return
to that second road.
It
is almost impossible not to sense a very similar theme
when examining the Yom Kippur Temple service of ancient
Israel.
As
described in parashat Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16:1-34),
the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest, conducts a
highly complex and ornate Temple service on Yom Kippur
known in Hebrew as the Avodah--"The Service."
As the High Priest commences and concludes each section
of the Avodah, he washes his hands and feet,
he immerses in a mikvah, changes his clothes and washes
his hands and feet again. Five times the priest immerses
and changes his garments, alternating between the golden
vestments and the white linen vestments, and washes
his hands and feet ten times.
Among
the various offerings that are brought on Yom Kippur
is the offering of the scapegoat. Two identical he-goats
are chosen, lots are cast, one is designated "laHashem,"
to G-d, the other is designated "la'Azazayl,"
to the wilderness. The goat that is designated to G-d
is eventually offered on the altar as a sacrifice. The
High Priest then confesses the sins of Israel upon the
head of the goat that is to go to Azazayl, and
the scapegoat is led away to the wilderness.
In
ancient times, when the land of Israel was not densely
populated, the goat would be released in the wilderness,
exposed to the predators of nature. It is likely that
the goat did not survive very long in this hostile environment,
and met a rather untimely and brutal death. As the land
became more populated, the goat was taken to a cliff
where it was cast to its death.
Although
there are many explanations offered concerning the ritual
of the scapegoat, one of the most compelling is that
of Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888, the great Bible
commentator and leader of German Jewry) that is recorded
in his commentary on Leviticus 16:10. Rabbi Hirsch explains
that the two identical he-goats represent two creatures
that were originally completely identical. But when
they approach the threshold of the sanctuary, their
destinies part and they proceed on two entirely contrasting
paths.
A
he-goat, known in Hebrew as sa'ir, is known as
an obstinate and resistant animal, one that has the
ability to oppose with firmness demands made upon it.
Rabbi Hirsch proceeds to explain the symbolism:
"We [humans] can use it [our own firmness and willpower]
in attachment to G-d, in resisting all internal and
external temptation and consideration which would lure
us away from G-d and His Holy Will, in being a sa'ir
laHashem. Or we can use it in obstinate refusal
of all compliant obedience to G-d and to the demands
of His holy laws of morality. [We] can turn the power
of resistance which He has granted us against Him, and
give ourselves up without a fight to the power of our
senses and their allurements, to fight against [that]
which was just the purpose for which G-d gave us that
power of resistence. This sinking into the power of
sensuality in contrast to the attachment to G-d, obeying
His laws of morality, is here called la'Azazayl.
We
humans, like the two identical goats, explains Rabbi
Hirsch, have freedom of choice: to set ourselves against
the Divine will or comply with His will. Each of us,
says Rabbi Hirsch, "stands at the entry to G-d's
sanctuary to decide between G-d and Azazayl,
between G-d and the power of our senses... Facing this,
His Law, has the decision to be made..."
Several
hundred years before Samson Raphael Hirsch, the Abarbanel
(Spanish statesman, philosopher and commentator, 1437-1508)
also explained that the identical goats were meant as
a metaphor, suggesting that the identical he-goats represented
the twin sons of Isaac, Jacob and Esau. The he-goat
that was dedicated to G-d represents Jacob, who lived
a life of G-dliness. The he-goat designated for Azazayl
represents Esau, who chose to live a path different
and apart from his ancestors. The Abarbanel suggests
that the casting of the lots represents the decision
that each human must make, whether to be offered to
G-d, or to go off to the wilderness and walk away from
G-d's ways.
In
the ritual of the scapegoat, the wilderness, which seemingly
represents freedom, eventually comes to mean inevitable
and painful death for the he-goat at the hands of the
predators of the wild. The he-goat that is designated
for G-d, even though it faces certain death, is elevated
in the service of G-d.
Robert
Frost concludes his powerful poem with the following
verse:
I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The
ritual of the scapegoat on Yom Kippur has much to say
to us concerning the decisions that we make in life. While
we are strongly urged to choose G-d, the Al-mighty has
given us the freedom to choose to embrace Him or reject
Him. Let us use this great gift of freedom, and choose
to embrace Him in joy, allowing ourselves to be drawn
closer to the Al-mighty and to bask in His Divine presence.
Yom
Kippur 5767 will be observed on Sunday night, October
1st and all day, Monday, October 2, 2006. Have a meaningful
fast.
Copyright
2006 National Jewish Outreach
Program www.njop.org
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