Goats of Mussaf

· On every Rosh Chodesh, and the 3 Yom Tovim – Pesach, Shavuous, and Succos – and Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur – there is a goat that is brought as a Chatos –sin - offering.

· The first Mishnah in Messechet Shavuous says what this goat chatos offering is for.

· It says it is brought as a Kaporah for 2 actions:

o Eating Kodshim – sacrificial meat – when the person is Tomay, ritually impure.

o Being on Har Habayis when the person is Tomay.

· And he has to be totally unaware that he is committing this avera.

· He’s either unaware that he’s Tomay, or that the meat he’s eating is Kodshim, or that he’s on Har Habayis.

· The Mishnah goes on to say that if he was aware for part of the action, but unaware for another part of the action, then he brings what is known as a Korban Oleh Veyored – an offering that varies depending on the person’s financial situation.

· If he has the financial resources, he brings an animal as a Korban.  If he has less money he brings a bird.  If he is poor, he brings a Minchah – grain- offering.

· However if he does this action of being tomay and either eating Kodshim or being on Har Habayis – if he does this with full knowledge, be maizid – these are 2 of the 36 things listed at the beginning of Messechet Krisos that are Chayiv Krisos.

· But again, if the person is totally unaware that he’s doing anything wrong – either he didn’t know he was tomay or that the meat he was eating was Kodshim or that he’s on Har Habayis – then of course he doesn’t bring a Korban because he’s not aware he did anything wrong.

· That is what the Mussaf goat of every Rosh Chodesh and the 5 Yom Tovim is to Mechaper for, about 17 times a year.

· This raises an interesting question.

· There are so many possible averas that a person –chas ve shalom - can do – doing any of the 365 negative commands, or not doing any of the 248 positive commandments.

· There’s chillul Shabbos, Arayot, dishonesty, Bain adam le Macom, Bain adam le chavero – on and on.

· Why are these 2 averas singled out to require the goat sin offering brought about 17 times a year?

· We’d like to suggest an answer by bringing an analogy of a husband and wife who have a very good and loving relationship.

· The wife, in addition to loving her husband, happens to really like her beautiful white carpet in the living room.

· The husband knows how much the wife wants to keep the carpet clean, and tries to make sure that his shoes are clean when he walks on it.

· But sometimes he forgets, and without being aware of it, he makes it dirty.

· The wife knows at these times her husband is not doing it intentionally, and she takes out the carpet cleaner and restores its beautiful white luster.

· But at some level, even without her wanting to have that reaction, seeing the dirty carpet upsets her, and even rankles her.

· Over time, these actions build up, and serve as an irritant in their otherwise wonderful relationship.

· We’ll bring another example that can cause irritation between a loving husband and wife.

· Let’s say that they set aside an evening to have dinner together alone, either at a restaurant or after the kids are asleep.

· And then during the meal, either the husband or wife gets a cell phone call, and totally oblivious of the effect it’s having – jabbers away for 10 minutes.

· The other spouse tries to occupy themselves with other things, like reading a magazine, and the spouse of the phone may be unaware that they are doing anything wrong.

· But it’s irritating, and it’s hard to bring back the mood of intimacy after the spell of togetherness has been broken.

· We want to make the suggestion that this is may be what is happening when a person is unknowingly tomay while eating Kodshim or on Har Habayis.

· Kodshim is holy food – it is said to be from the Shulchan Gavoah – the uplifted table.

· And Har Habayis is the holiest place is the universe.

· This is a time and place of intimacy between a Jew and Hashem.

· To be tomay in such a situation is like walking with filthy shoes on a beautiful white carpet, or yakking away on a cell phone in the middle of a candle-lit dinner.

· This is true even though the perpetrator of the action is totally oblivious that they are doing anything wrong.

· In a close, personal, and intimate setting, each party expects special attention to upholding the sanctity of that special and ‘holy’ moment.

· And when one person is negligent – unintentially – it gives rise to a feeling of irritation.

· And this irritation builds up over time, and needs to be assuaged somehow.

· So let’s say that the husband recognizes this problem, and wants to make amends.

· And once a month, he gives his wife a little present, or takes her out to dinner – and says, “I know I am sometimes not as thoughtful as I want to be, and I am momentarily oblivious of your needs and wishes.  I want this present or meal to be a way of  saying I’m sorry, that I never intended to annoy or hurt you.  Please forgive me.”

· We’re suggesting that this may be the meaning of the Goat Mussaf offering on Rosh Chodesh and the Yom Tovim.

· The thing that is different about being Tomay while eating Kodshim or being on Har Habayis is that these are moments of intimacy and closeness between a Jew and Hashem.

· It’s our special meal together, or time spent in our special room together.

· Kodshim and Har Habayis are holy and have the highest level of kedushah.

· Tumah represents the exact opposite of this Kedushah.

· Kedushah revives and enlivens and brings Chiyut and life.

· Tumah represents death and decay.

· Tumah represents the filthy shoes on the white carpet.

· So once a month and on Yom Tovim, Hashem asks us to bring this special Goat Mussaf offering to wipe the slate clean of any irritation – so to speak – that has built up during the month.

· And perhaps this is an explanation of why we say half Hallel on Rosh Chodesh.

· We are celebrating that we have this mechanism to restore the wholeness of our relationship with Hashem.

· It’s similar to how during a thunderstorm, the lightening discharges the disparity of charges between the sky and the earth that has built up.

· We bring the Goats sin offerings of Mussaf to say, there may have been times of intimacy when we were eating Your holy food, or spending time in Your holy abode – when we were not in a state that was appropriate for that situation.

· If we had been aware of this, we wouldn’t have done it, but we were not aware of it.

· Please forgive us.

· Our relationship with You means all the world to us.

· We want You to clear the slate, reset and cleanse our relationship of any negative feelings that have come up between us during the last month.

· We want to be close to You, and we don’t want anything to come between us.

· We feel Your love, we return that love, and please accept our apology through this Mussaf Goat sin offering.