Why Be a Scapegoat?

With Yom Kippur coming so shortly after Shabbat, I thought this week I would focus on a Yom Kippur quandary: what is the meaning of the scapegoat ritual?

Leviticus 16:7-8 “Aaron shall take the two he-goats and let them stand before Adonai at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting; and he shall place lots upon then two goats, one marked for Adonai and one marked for Azazel.”

These verses describe the Yom Kippur ritual of the sacrifice of the scapegoat. The purpose of Yom Kippur, of course, is to atone for our sins. This ancient atonement ritual, which is the origin of the term "scapegoat" (painfully recorded in Jewish history) to us may seem to be some kind of hocus-pocus, mumbo-jumbo. Even for a religion which was based on a sacrificial cult, this ceremony has overtones of magic and is difficult to comprehend, at least with our "modern" sensibilities. Two identical goats are placed together, and after drawing lots, one is sacrificed (“marked for Adonai”) and the other is sent into the wilderness (or, in another understanding of the text, pushed over the cliff, to “Azazel”). Both wind up dead. What does this imply about Yom Kippur and atonement?
One interpretation is that just as one of the goats is holy and the other is profane, we have committed sins against God (the holy) and against our fellow human beings (the profane). So the ritual is kind of metaphor for our attempts at atonement on Yom Kippur.

On a more metaphysical plane, since both goats end up dead, what really matters is what is intended by their death (glorification of God or a useless death). This, in turn, suggests that atonement is really all about intention: whether we atone sincerely (the holy) or just go through the motions (the profane). Whichever path we take, the verses serve to remind us that while our conceptual world may be divided between the holy and the profane, in actuality we live in a world where we constantly encounter and struggle with the profane. The holy seems a distant goal. How can we direct ourselves with the proper intention (kavanah) towards repentance and atonement?

On Yom Kippur, we “afflict our souls,” we fast, and we spend the day in prayer and contemplation, striving for the proper intention for t'shuvah (repentance). Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel understood t’shuvah to imply a dialogue. On Yom Kippur we stand before a caring God who asks the questions; we have to search into ourselves and offer the answers. Heschel suggests that as much as we are in search of God, God is in search of us, and we need to allow Him to find us. Knowing that God seeks us as we seek Him can help us achieve a proper intention towards atonement and repentance. This is a comforting thought on Yom Kippur, when judgment for the coming year is sealed in the Book of Life.

May you and all those you hold dear be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life.