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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Parashat Acharei Mot, Leviticus 16:1-18:30; Shabbat

HaGadol

The modern scapegoat represents the denial of

sin.
One of the challenges of dealing with the text of the Torah in English is that every
translation is an interpretation. In these weekly studies I rely on the New Jewish
Publication Society (NJPS) translation of the Torah which refers to God as "He," and
the divine name as "Lord." The Torah: A Woman's Commentary tackles the issue of
gender neutral language by always writing the divine name in Hebrew, allowing the
reader to read it as Adonai, Hashem or "Lord."
As sensitive as we liberal Jews are to our language of prayer and study, we have it
easy in comparison to the pioneers of Bible translation, who had to set the standards
of translation for their descendants. And indeed, we have been greatly influenced by
these pioneers. Why else would we think that Eve ate an apple? Or that things start
"in the beginning," not "with the beginning" or "when God began to create?"
One of the greatest influences on the English language has been the King James
translation of the Bible, responsible for our automatically saying "in the beginning."
This translation, known for the beauty of its language, is not the first translation into
English. That accomplishment is credited to William Tyndale, a 16th century
Protestant reformer who was the first individual to translate the text from the original
Hebrew into English. It is thanks to Tyndale that we say "let there be light," and "Am I
my brother's keeper?" Tyndale is believed to have created English words when
necessary to help in the translation. One such word is "scapegoat" referring directly to
a ceremony described in this week's parashah, Acharei Mot:
Aaron shall take the two he-goats and let them stand before the Lord at the entrance
of the Tent of Meeting; and he shall place lots upon the two goats, one marked for the
Lord and the other marked for Azazel. Aaron shall bring forward the goat designated
by lot for the Lord, which he is to offer as a sin offering; while the goat designated by
lot for Azazel shall be left standing alive before the Lord, to make expiation with it and
to send it off to the wilderness for Azazel.

…Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all

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the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on
the head of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated
man. Thus the goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region; and
the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.
Leviticus 16:7-10, 21-22
While today a "scapegoat" is a person who bears the blame for others, for Tyndale
this was the joining of two words (e)scape and goat – referring to the animal in the
ritual that had the people's sin transferred to it and was set free for Azazel.
Jewish commentators didn't have it any easier just because they were dealing with
the original Hebrew. It's not necessarily the ritual that bothered them (though it could
be challenging to our modern sensibilities). What "got their goat" was the term
Azazel. Since this word only appears in Leviticus 16, how is it to be understood?
The Talmud (Yoma 67b) describes Azazel as being "a hard and rough
country" (Soncino translation), based on the word az meaning "strong" or "fierce."
David Kimchi (12th century) explains it as being the mountain to which the goat was
sent in the wilderness. Another interpretation is that it is a contraction of two words
(goat) and azal (to go away), related to a description found in the Mishna (Yoma 6:2).
From this one can see the development of the "scapegoat." Ibn Ezra relates it to "goat
demons" mentioned in Leviticus 17:7. Baruch Levine points out that Azazel was the
name given "to the demonic ruler of the wilderness."
The Torah: A Women's Commentary summarizes it best:
This is the name of the wilderness beyond the boundaries of settled life; most likely it
originated as the name of a demon, Azazel in this case is best imagined as the
antithesis of the Tabernacle/sanctuary, a place of disorder devoid of the relevant
priestly distinctions. By carrying Israel's impurities to such a wilderness, the
scapegoat effectively conveys the chaotic aspects of human life back to the place of
origin.
The Torah: A Women's Commentary, p. 682
Most interesting are the commentaries relating the two goats to Biblical figures.
Nachmanides, drawing on Midrash Bereshit Rabbah (65:10), through the use of puns
identifies Esau as the goat that is sent away and Jacob as the one that remains. How
so? Esau is described as hairy (sa'ir) which is a pun on another word for goat se'ir.
This goat carries the Israelites' iniquities avonotam, punned as avonot tam, avonot
meaning sins and tam meaning a person of integrity. Who is described as being tam?
Jacob (Genesis 25:27). Take it a step further. Remember Jacob's disguise to fool
daddy into thinking he was big brother Esau? Goatskin (Genesis 27:16).
Fast forward to late Saturday night, where, after noshing on kosher for Passover Tam
Tams, we will be singing Had Gadya, One Little Goat. This ditty has been invested
with allegorical meaning by Jewish commentators. Most popularly, we are told that
the goat represents the people of Israel and all the other actors in the saga (except, of
course, for God) represent nations throughout history that tried to destroy the Jewish
people.
Yet more often than not, it is the scapegoat that has been associated with Jews. How

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ironic that this animal, symbolic of the cleansing of Israel's sins, has been associated
with the Jewish people historically being burdened with the sins of others. Alas, we
still see this in the world today.
In Leviticus the ritual with the two goats represents the public acknowledgment and
acceptance of sins: the animal designated for Azazel symbolically bears them away.
The modern scapegoat represents the denial of sin. We readily accept that this
happens to our community on a global level. But let's get personal here. Let's face it;
it is part of human nature to make excuses when we fall short of expectations. How
often do we as individuals shift blame to others instead of accepting responsibility for
our own actions?
So here we are on the Shabbat HaGadol, the Shabbat before Pesach, preparing to
recount and relive the story of our deliverance from slavery to freedom. With that
precious freedom come obligations, including the responsibility of owning up to our
mistakes, shortcomings and transgressions. Pesach is sounding more and more like
Yom Kippur! Let's not forget that hametz (leaven), prohibited on Pesach, is
symbolically taken to be the yetser hara' (inclination to evil). So Pesach, half a year
after Yom Kippur, is another occasion to right wrongs. Consider this: there is nothing
more liberating than 'fessing up to our sins. Pesach is a spring cleaning for the soul,
an opportunity to fix the mess we have made. What are we waiting for?

Shabbat shalom.
Chag kasher ve-sameach,
MS

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