Shabbat Shalom. [wait for them to say Shabbat Shalom back to you.]
Just like everything I've written for school, this morning's d'var Torah is sponsored by Sue's Pantyhose Restaurant. [PAUSE]
Just like everything I've written for school, this morning's d'var Torah is sponsored by Sue's Pantyhose Restaurant. [PAUSE]
This morning's service has already been very tedious. We don't usually read two Torah portions. And these are each very, very long.
They also have many, many laws that are not safe for children to hear, and maybe some grownups, too.
So let me start my d'var by saying:
demonic goat ritual sacrifice. [PAUSE]
And, as expected from a **Smolar** production, we will be having helpers act out the ceremony, live in person.
Can I please have our volunteers come up to the bimah? [helpers enter stage right - the corner near the door to the bride's room]
By the way, if you start to smell schawarma and tehini, what you're really smelling...is talent! [helpers do jazz hands] [PAUSE]
They also have many, many laws that are not safe for children to hear, and maybe some grownups, too.
So let me start my d'var by saying:
- We won't discuss nudity. [PAUSE]
- We won't discuss throwing kids into fire pits. [PAUSE]
- We won't even discuss dating your cousins. I can barely pronounce 'consanguinity'. [PAUSE]
demonic goat ritual sacrifice. [PAUSE]
And, as expected from a **Smolar** production, we will be having helpers act out the ceremony, live in person.
Can I please have our volunteers come up to the bimah? [helpers enter stage right - the corner near the door to the bride's room]
By the way, if you start to smell schawarma and tehini, what you're really smelling...is talent! [helpers do jazz hands] [PAUSE]
This morning, I'll be speaking about the annual Yom Kippur scapegoat offering to Azazel. This is found at the very beginning of our Torah reading today, the part my Dad tried to chant.
In the time of the Torah and in ancient Israel, the way they did Yom Kippur was very different from today. Back then, it was simple...and a little strange.
But the way we do it today is much harder...and much easier. [PAUSE]
You'll see what I mean.
In the time of the Torah and in ancient Israel, the way they did Yom Kippur was very different from today. Back then, it was simple...and a little strange.
But the way we do it today is much harder...and much easier. [PAUSE]
You'll see what I mean.
In Leviticus chapter 16, we read instructions for Aaron as the Kohen Gadol and what he had to do to get rid of the Israelites' sins on Yom Kippur.
[helpers dress up and take out props]
He starts by stripping down, washing up, then putting on his holy clothes.
He sacrifices a bull for his sins and those of his family. [kills stuffy bull]
He also makes sacrifices on behalf of the sins of the Kohanim and the Temple. [kills another stuffy]
But for the sins of the Israelite people, Aaron then takes two goats... ['goats' are kneeling or sitting] [PAUSE]
As we read in verse 8:
[helpers dress up and take out props]
He starts by stripping down, washing up, then putting on his holy clothes.
He sacrifices a bull for his sins and those of his family. [kills stuffy bull]
He also makes sacrifices on behalf of the sins of the Kohanim and the Temple. [kills another stuffy]
But for the sins of the Israelite people, Aaron then takes two goats... ['goats' are kneeling or sitting] [PAUSE]
As we read in verse 8:
וְנָתַן אַהֲרֹן עַל־שְׁנֵי הַשְּׂעִירִם גֹּרָלוֹת;
גּוֹרָל אֶחָד לַה' וְגוֹרָל אֶחָד לַעֲזָאזֵל׃
The Kohen Gadol blindly picks which goat goes to Hashem and which goes to Azazel. [take out the bowl, stick in your hands and choose goats]
He ties a crimson thread around the neck of the goat that goes to Hashem. [like a bowtie]
Then he ties a crimson thread around the horns of the goat that goes to Azazel. [horns on a headband - use a red scrunchie]
But what is AZAZEL? Or better yet, WHO IS AZAZEL?
He ties a crimson thread around the neck of the goat that goes to Hashem. [like a bowtie]
Then he ties a crimson thread around the horns of the goat that goes to Azazel. [horns on a headband - use a red scrunchie]
But what is AZAZEL? Or better yet, WHO IS AZAZEL?
The Kohen Gadol takes the goat that goes to Hashem and sacrifices it on the altar. [rolls the goat off the bimah and around the back]
But with the goat for Azazel, he puts his hands on the head of the goat and confesses all the sins of the people. [mutters to himself] [PAUSE]
We read in verse 21:
But with the goat for Azazel, he puts his hands on the head of the goat and confesses all the sins of the people. [mutters to himself] [PAUSE]
We read in verse 21:
וְשִׁלַּח בְּיַד־אִישׁ עִתִּי הַמִּדְבָּרָה׃
...and the goat shall be sent off to the desert by an appointed person.
Aaron then hands the goat over to an appointed person to lead the goat away. [hands the goat to the next person with a turban?]
But where is the goat going to go? [PAUSE]
But where is the goat going to go? [PAUSE]
In Verse 22, we learn the following:
[mimic each scenario]
[mimic each scenario]
- The goat is going to an eretz g'zeirah - a land far away with sharp cliffs.
- The goat is going into the midbar - the desert.
- And as I said before, the goat is going to Azazel.
So...was Azazel a place? A person? Or maybe a really hungry demon goat monster?
Is there a monster at the end of this...d'var?? [PAUSE] [look for Aunt Robin]
We continue the story of Azazel in the Machzor, the High Holidays prayerbook. It's in the Avodah service.
Here, it says that, in the Days of the Ancient Temple, the appointed person takes the goat for Azazel and follows a specific path to a rocky cliff, with helpful people marking the way.
He reaches the sharp cliff, ties one end of the thread around the goat's horns, and ties the other end of the thread around a heavy rock. [tie a beach ball] [PAUSE]
He then points the goat away from the cliff, and throws the rock over the side of the cliff, making the goat flip backwards to its timely demise. [rolls dramatically down - drumroll and cymbal crash!] [PAUSE]
Is there a monster at the end of this...d'var?? [PAUSE] [look for Aunt Robin]
We continue the story of Azazel in the Machzor, the High Holidays prayerbook. It's in the Avodah service.
Here, it says that, in the Days of the Ancient Temple, the appointed person takes the goat for Azazel and follows a specific path to a rocky cliff, with helpful people marking the way.
He reaches the sharp cliff, ties one end of the thread around the goat's horns, and ties the other end of the thread around a heavy rock. [tie a beach ball] [PAUSE]
He then points the goat away from the cliff, and throws the rock over the side of the cliff, making the goat flip backwards to its timely demise. [rolls dramatically down - drumroll and cymbal crash!] [PAUSE]
The Talmud says a guy standing on a nearby platform watches this and waves a red flag to confirm that the goat is dead. [from behind the bimah "he's dead!"]
The helpers along the path wave their red flags one after another until the signal is seen back at the Temple.
When the Kohen Gadol sees the last red flag, he tells the People. Everybody cheers, everybody leaves, everybody eats, and that's the end of Yom Kippur.
The helpers along the path wave their red flags one after another until the signal is seen back at the Temple.
When the Kohen Gadol sees the last red flag, he tells the People. Everybody cheers, everybody leaves, everybody eats, and that's the end of Yom Kippur.
The Talmud, in Yoma 67b, argues about what actually Azazel means. One rabbi said it simply meant the goat gets thrown from a mountain that's "Az v'Kasheh" - "rough and tough."
BUT...
...maybe Azazel wasn't a place. Maybe it was a mystical, magical being...or two.
The same part of the Talmud then quotes Rabbi Yishmael. He connects Azazel to the story of Noah [PAUSE] and the Great Flood. [PAUSE]
Why did Hashem destroy the world? Because the world was corrupt.
But who corrupted the world? [PAUSE]
Genesis chapter 6 says some angels rebelled against Hashem, leading to the corruption.
And who led the Rebellion?
Rabbi Yishmael blames all of this on two angels. Their names were Uzza and Aza'el.
And when you combine the names Uzza and Aza'el, you get...Azazel.
Because their actions led to the destruction of nearly everything on Earth, the Flood was their fault.
So the Scapegoat wasn't an offering for Azazel - it was on behalf of these two rebellious angels.
When we brought a goat to Azazel, we were begging Hashem to forgive these angels, and never again destroy the world by flood. [PAUSE]
BUT...
...maybe Azazel wasn't a place. Maybe it was a mystical, magical being...or two.
The same part of the Talmud then quotes Rabbi Yishmael. He connects Azazel to the story of Noah [PAUSE] and the Great Flood. [PAUSE]
Why did Hashem destroy the world? Because the world was corrupt.
But who corrupted the world? [PAUSE]
Genesis chapter 6 says some angels rebelled against Hashem, leading to the corruption.
And who led the Rebellion?
Rabbi Yishmael blames all of this on two angels. Their names were Uzza and Aza'el.
And when you combine the names Uzza and Aza'el, you get...Azazel.
Because their actions led to the destruction of nearly everything on Earth, the Flood was their fault.
So the Scapegoat wasn't an offering for Azazel - it was on behalf of these two rebellious angels.
When we brought a goat to Azazel, we were begging Hashem to forgive these angels, and never again destroy the world by flood. [PAUSE]
So maybe Azazel was actually a couple of angels.
Then again, maybe Azazel was a sacrifice for the Devil himself!
For that story, we go to 13th century Spain, when the RamBAN quoted the 4th century book of legends, known as the "Pirkei d'RAH-bee Eliezer".
It seems that every year on Yom Kippur, Satan, God's adversary, tries to convince Hashem NOT to forgive us for our sins.
By the way, in English, it's SAY-tuhn. But in Hebrew, we say sah-TAHN.
So in the ancient Temple, we had to give Satan his own animal sacrifice.
The RamBAN teaches that they used the Azazel goat to bribe Satan into leaving us alone for another year. [PAUSE]
Then again, maybe Azazel was a sacrifice for the Devil himself!
For that story, we go to 13th century Spain, when the RamBAN quoted the 4th century book of legends, known as the "Pirkei d'RAH-bee Eliezer".
It seems that every year on Yom Kippur, Satan, God's adversary, tries to convince Hashem NOT to forgive us for our sins.
By the way, in English, it's SAY-tuhn. But in Hebrew, we say sah-TAHN.
So in the ancient Temple, we had to give Satan his own animal sacrifice.
The RamBAN teaches that they used the Azazel goat to bribe Satan into leaving us alone for another year. [PAUSE]
Maybe Azazel was a place. Maybe it was an angel. Maybe it was a demon. Who knows.
As a bat mitzvah, I'd like to give my own interpretation of the Azazel story.
[helpers come back onto the bimah]
What they did back then with the goat and the cliff and Azazel -- that was simple.
During the ancient ceremony, the High Priest would magically remove all their sins...but the people would just stand around and do nothing?
That would mean that none of the people would think about their sins later, or think of other people's feelings. They would learn nothing from their mistakes. [PAUSE]
What we do today is very hard to do. We do T'shuva, the act of Repentance.
[helpers act these out]
What they did with Azazel story was easy.
But even if T'shuva is harder to do, it's the only way to make the world a better place to be. [PAUSE] [PAUSE]
As a bat mitzvah, I'd like to give my own interpretation of the Azazel story.
[helpers come back onto the bimah]
What they did back then with the goat and the cliff and Azazel -- that was simple.
During the ancient ceremony, the High Priest would magically remove all their sins...but the people would just stand around and do nothing?
That would mean that none of the people would think about their sins later, or think of other people's feelings. They would learn nothing from their mistakes. [PAUSE]
What we do today is very hard to do. We do T'shuva, the act of Repentance.
[helpers act these out]
- T'shuva is hard because we have to examine and realize all the bad things we did to other people.
- You might have social anxiety, meaning it's difficult for you to go up to someone and ask forgiveness.
- It might also be hard not to repeat the things you did wrong...because you didn't even realize you'd done them in the first place.
What they did with Azazel story was easy.
But even if T'shuva is harder to do, it's the only way to make the world a better place to be. [PAUSE] [PAUSE]
I'd like to thank all of you, family and friends, for joining me this morning.
Thanks to the Rabbi and the Cantor for training me for this day.
Thanks to my mom and dad for getting me ready for this day.
Special thanks to our actors as well.
And whether or not we ever learn what Azazel is...or was,
we can clearly see that [PAUSE]
there was NEVER "a monster at the end of this d'var."
Shabbat Shalom.
Thanks to the Rabbi and the Cantor for training me for this day.
Thanks to my mom and dad for getting me ready for this day.
Special thanks to our actors as well.
And whether or not we ever learn what Azazel is...or was,
we can clearly see that [PAUSE]
there was NEVER "a monster at the end of this d'var."
Shabbat Shalom.