Achrei Mot: Taking Accountability for Our Actions

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, "The Scapegoat," https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/acharei-mot/the-scapegoat/

Much is puzzling about the ritual. First, what is the meaning of “to Azazel,” to which the second goat was sent? It appears nowhere else in Scripture. Three major theories emerged as to its meaning. According to the Sages and Rashi, it meant “a steep, rocky, or hard place”. In other words, it was a description of its destination. In the plain meaning of the Torah, the goat was sent “to a desolate area” (el eretz gezerah, Lev. 16:22). According to the Sages, this meant it was thus taken to a steep ravine where it fell to its death. That, according to the first explanation, is the meaning of Azazel.

The second, suggested cryptically by Ibn Ezra and explicitly by Nahmanides, is that Azazel was the name of a spirit or demon, one of the fallen angels referred to in Genesis 6:2, similar to the goat-spirit called ‘Pan’ in Greek mythology, ‘Faunus’ in Latin. This is a difficult idea, which is why Ibn Ezra alluded to it, as he did in similar cases, by way of a riddle, a puzzle, that only the wise would be able to decipher. He writes: "I will reveal to you part of the secret by hint: when you reach thirty-three you will know it." Nahmanides reveals the secret: Thirty-three verses later on, the Torah commands: “They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols [se’irim] after whom they go astray.”

Azazel, on this reading, is the name of a demon or hostile force, sometimes called Satan or Samael. The Israelites were categorically forbidden to worship such a force. Indeed, the belief that there are powers at work in the universe distinct from, or even hostile to, God, is incompatible with Judaic monotheism. Nonetheless, some Sages did believe that there were negative forces that were part of the heavenly retinue, like Satan, who brought accusations against humans or tempted them into sin. The goat sent into the wilderness to Azazel was a way of conciliating or propitiating such forces so that the prayers of Israel could rise to heaven without, as it were, any dissenting voices. This way of understanding the rite is similar to the saying on the part of the Sages that we blow shofar in a double cycle on Rosh Hashanah “to confuse Satan.” (Rosh Hashanah 16b)

The third interpretation, and the simplest, is that Azazel is a compound noun meaning “the goat [ez] that was sent away [azal].” This led to the addition of a new word to the English language. In 1530 William Tyndale produced the first English translation of the Hebrew Bible, an act then illegal and for which he paid with his life. Seeking to translate Azazel into English, he called it “the escapegoat,” i.e. the goat that was sent away and released. In the course of time, the first letter was dropped, and the word “scapegoat” was born.

Maimonides, "The Guide for the Perplexed," III:46

There is no doubt that sins cannot be carried like a burden, and taken off the shoulder of one being to be laid on that of another being. But these ceremonies are of a symbolic character, and serve to impress people with a certain idea, and to induce them to repent – as if to say, we have freed ourselves of our previous deeds, have cast them behind our backs, and removed them from us as far as possible.

Baruch A Levine, "The JPS Torah Commentary: Leviticus," pg. 250

The transfer of sins or other forms of impurity to an animal (or to a person or object) by means of procedure calculated to destroy it or to prevent its return clearly reflects the magical objectives of demonology and exorcism. This observation raises a crucial question for our understanding of biblical religion. Is there a place for magic in a monotheistic religion that is based on the proposition that one God rules the universe by supreme will? In other words, are not magic and monotheism, as understood in biblical theology, mutually exclusive?

Some insight into this questions can be gained from a more detailed differentiation of the various kinds of magic. The Torah and the rest of the Bible voice vigorous opposition to almost all forms of divination, to the use of omens and incantations, and to necromancy and sorcery. At the same time, there is no explicit objection to certain forms of therapeutic magic, such as might be employed in the healing process or in protecting against infection and illness. This omission allows us to propose that therapeutic magic may well have been permitted. Nevertheless, afflictions had to be treated by proper Israelite priests and in the prescribed manner. In fact, the rites of the scapegoat have frequently been compared with those prescribed for the treatment of certain ailments and infections. Thus, an individual afflicted with the symptoms of tsara'at, a skin disease, was to be purified be means of a complex ritual involved two birds, one to be slaughtered and the other to be sent forth into the open sky after being dipped into the blood of the first.

Rabbi Eve Posen, "Say It Out Loud," https://nevehshalom.org/say-it-out-loud-parshat-acharei-mot-5782/

While sharing our missteps with a goat might not be what we picture for atonement today, it’s important to note the action required here to move forward after a transgression. This system relies on saying our confessions out loud. How often do you have a conversation inside your own head about something you regret or feel remorse about? And how often does that internal dialogue actually lead to change? If you’re like me, the change doesn’t happen unless I voice those thoughts to another human being.

Parshat Acharei Mot is a gentle reminder to each of us that in order to make real progress in ourselves, we must say the change we want to make out loud. In Judaism, there’s no longer a High Priest or even a rabbi required; any interpersonal conversation can be your stepping stone. The action of change occurs when we take our own inner voice and let others hear our intention.

Cindy Warren, "Parashat Acharei Mot – The Scapegoat," https://akivaschool.com/parashat-aharei-mot-the-scapegoat/

It is fascinating to me that the concept of the scapegoat appears in the parashah that falls (this year) in the same week as Yom Ha-Shoah – Holocaust Memorial Day. The Holocaust is a most powerful example of how the world has, time and time again, used the Jewish people as a scapegoat for their troubles, blaming the sins of the world on the Jewish people, and then sending us off into the wilderness to disappear off a high, steep cliff.

What we learn from this parashah is the true meaning and purpose of the scapegoat – to confess one’s own sins, to take responsibility for our own actions, to ask forgiveness and then to wipe the slate clean and remove the stain of sin so we can move forward and do better. The purpose of the scapegoat is not blaming others.

The goat can only take away what is in our own power to release. Our problems are not solved by looking at what others should, could or might have done differently nor what they have already done wrong.

Our problems are solved by examining our own contributions, by figuring out what we need to do to feel differently or to achieve different results in our lives.

Rabbi Shefa Gold, "Acharey Mot," https://www.rabbishefagold.com/acharey-mot/

The blessing of Acharey Mot is the opportunity to purify our inner sanctuaries at regular intervals, whenever necessary… once a year, once a month, every week… or perhaps each night. There will always be imperfection, mistakes in our human stories. And after seeing and speaking the truth, there will always be Divine forgiveness.