Goats of Yom Kippur- 2015

· Yom Kippur is a holy day. 

· We spend the day in shul fasting and doing Tshuva.

· The Chumash in Achrei Mos describes the Avodah of the Kohain Godol in the Bais Hamikdosh on Yom Kippur. 

· At one of the high points of the day, the Kohain Godol takes two goats that must look alike. 

· Using lots he chooses one to be the ‘goat to Hashem’, and other to be the ‘goat to Azazel’. 

· The goat to Hashem is slaughtered as a sin offering. 

· The Kohain Godol confesses the sins of Klal Yisroel on the goat to Azazel, and then sends it to the midbar where it is thrown over a cliff to its death. 

· As soon as it dies, a red thread that had been tied to its horn turns white, and this indicates that Hashem has forgiven the Jewish people.

· At the pinnacle of the year, in a main portion of the Day of Atonement, two goats play a central role. 

· What is the meaning of these two goats?

· To add to the question, messechet Yuma 67b asks what the name Azazel means. 

· The Yeshiva of Rabbi Yishmael answers that this goat brings about forgiveness for the action of Aza and Azel.  

· Rashi explains that Aza and Azel were two destructive angels alluded to at the end of Parsha Bereshis, that ‘came down to the earth’, and were attracted to women. 

· Og Melech Habashan was one of their children.

· What is the significance of the two goats? 

· What does Aza and Azel have to do with us?

· What is the connection between the Aza and Azel and Yom Kippur?

· Let’s start by pointing out a similarity between the two goats of Yom Kippur and two other animals that appear in Parsha Metzorah, the Parsha that precedes Achrei Mos.

· Messechet Chulin says that there are several averas that cause Tzoras.

· All of them are avreas bain adam le chavero, interpersonal averas, such as loshon hara, stealing, and stinginess.

· A person who has Tzoras has to leave the camp, separating him from a society to whom he did something anti-social.

· When his symptoms disappear, the Metzora brings offerings that include two birds.

· One of the birds is killed, and the other bird is sent away to fly away over a desolate field.

· Notice the similarity between the two birds and the two goats. 

· For Tzoras, one bird is killed and the other bird is sent away over a desolate area.

· On Yom Kippur, one goat is killed and the other is sent away to a desolate area. 

· What is being communicated to us through this dual symbolism?

· In both cases there are two animals, one killed, and the other sent away – what could they signify?

· Let’s remember that Tzoras is caused by anti-social behavior. 

· Is there an act of anti-social behavior in the Chumash that describes two people, where one is killed and the other is sent away?

· The first anti-social act in the Chumash is between Cayen and Hevel. 

· One is killed and the other is sent away.

· Perhaps the two goats and the two birds are to remind us of the anti-social behavior of Cayen and Hevel, of the serious consequences of averas bain adam le chavero. 

· Inter-personal averas can result in one person being a victim, and the other person being punished.

· If we think about the terrible consequences of such averas, we should be inspired to improve ourselves and do Tshuva, especially in relation to how our actions affect other people.

· Another question: what does Aza and Azel has to do with Yom Kippur?

· Aza and Azel where angels in Shamayim, and they were very unusual in that they were attracted to doing averas in the physical world.

· What was their main sin? 

· The main sin of Aza and Azel was that they were not satisfied with being in Shamayim.

· They were in a lofty spiritual place, and they were tempted to be involved with the averas of the physical world. 

· This is the main problem whenever we do an avera. 

· Our neshama is on a high spiritual level, but sometimes we are attracted to the temptations of sin in the physical world.

· Therefore, on some level, the action of Aza and Azel symbolizes all our averas.

· Our neshama, instead of being satisfied with the spiritual joys of Torah and mitzvas, ‘goes down to the earth’ and gets sullied by the temptations of averas in the physical world.

· We can see that the goats of Yom Kippur are powerful symbols.

· When we see one killed and the other sent away to its death in a desolate place, it can remind us of all sins bain adam le chavero, such as Cayen and Hevel, where one person is hurt and the other is punished.

· The goat of Azazel reminds us that our neshama is better off enjoying spiritual pursuits rather than doing averas in the physical world.

· It could be that Hashem is using the goats as symbols to communicate these powerful messages to us. 

· But most people are not consciously aware of the meaning of these symbols.

· Why use symbols that people are not consciously aware of?

· It may be that our neshama understands these symbols more than we are aware of. 

· Our neshama comes from Shamayim. 

· Perhaps our neshamas know about the notorious angels Aza and Azel who came down from Shamayim.

· Perhaps neshamas understand the language of symbols.

· Hashem may be using the goats to communicate these important messages directly to our neashamas. 

· Perhaps at a subliminal level, when our neshama sees what happens to the two goats, and hears the name Azazel, perhaps it understands the message very well. 

· Our Neshama knows all too well about the dangers of the temptations of the Yetzer Hara.

· They are very attractive and seductive at first, but they ultimately lead to downfall and destruction.

· This is symbolized by the goat Azazel being led into a Midbar, and being thrown down from a height to an ignominious death.

· This realization, even on a subliminal level, inspires us to do Tshuva.

· Then the red thread turns white, and Hashem forgives us for our averas.

· May we all take the lesson of Aza and Azazel to heart, and remind ourselves that we are much better off remaining on a lofty plane.

· And that we should resist the shmutz that the Yetzer Hara tempts us with, that may appear tantalizing, but is ultimately so destructive.

· May this insight inspire us to do Tshuva on Yom Kippur, and every day.

 Hashem is telling us a very important message that is very similar in both of these parshas. 

Hashem told Cayin, “Sin is crouching at the door, its desires to control you, but you can control it”.  But of course Cayin can’t control it, and he ends up killing his brother.  So perhaps the message of the two birds and the two goats, is simple.  Hashem is telling us, “You have temptations and strong emotions.  But you can control them.  If you don’t look what can happen.  One person can end up the victim like what happened to Hevel, and the perpetrator of the crime will –at best – be sent away to Golus, or at worst, be thrown to its death over a cliff like the goat in the desert. 

We are supposed to see this and realize the truth about averas, that we can control them, and the terrible consequences that happen if we don’t control them.  When we have that epiphany, we see what we have done wrong, our desire to do Tshuva is overwhelming, and as a result we are forgiven.