(ב) בָּא לוֹ אֵצֶל שָׂעִיר הַמִּשְׁתַּלֵּחַ וְסוֹמֵךְ שְׁתֵּי יָדָיו עָלָיו וּמִתְוַדֶּה.... וְהַכֹּהֲנִים וְהָעָם הָעוֹמְדִים בָּעֲזָרָה, כְּשֶׁהָיוּ שׁוֹמְעִים שֵׁם הַמְפֹרָשׁ שֶׁהוּא יוֹצֵא מִפִּי כֹהֵן גָּדוֹל, הָיוּ כּוֹרְעִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים וְנוֹפְלִים עַל פְּנֵיהֶם, וְאוֹמְרִים, בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד:
(2) The Yom Kippur service continues: The High Priest comes over to the scapegoat, places both his hands upon it, and confesses.... And the priests and the people standing in the Temple courtyard, when they would hear the Explicit Name emerging from the mouth of the High Priest, when the High Priest did not use one of the substitute names for God, they would kneel and prostrate themselves and fall on their faces, and say: Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.
(ג) מְסָרוֹ לְמִי שֶׁהָיָה מוֹלִיכוֹ...
(ד) ...מִיַּקִּירֵי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם הָיוּ מְלַוִּין אוֹתוֹ עַד סֻכָּה הָרִאשׁוֹנָה. עֶשֶׂר סֻכּוֹת מִירוּשָׁלַיִם וְעַד צוּק, תִּשְׁעִים רִיס, שִׁבְעָה וּמֶחֱצָה לְכָל מִיל:
(3) After the confession over the scapegoat, the priest passed the goat to the one who was to lead it to the wilderness....
(4) ...People from among the prominent residents of Jerusalem would escort the one leading the goat until they reached the first booth. Booths were set up along the path to the wilderness to provide the escort a place to rest. There were ten booths from Jerusalem to the cliff, with a distance of ninety ris between them. As there are seven and a half ris for each mil, the total distance was twelve mil.
(1 mil = more or less than 1 kilometer)
(ו) מֶה הָיָה עוֹשֶׂה, חוֹלֵק לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית, חֶצְיוֹ קָשַׁר בַּסֶּלַע וְחֶצְיוֹ קָשַׁר בֵּין שְׁתֵּי קַרְנָיו, וּדְחָפוֹ לַאֲחוֹרָיו, וְהוּא מִתְגַּלְגֵּל וְיוֹרֵד, וְלֹא הָיָה מַגִּיעַ לַחֲצִי הָהָר עַד שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה אֵבָרִים אֵבָרִים...
(6) What did the one designated to dispatch the goat do there? He divided a strip of crimson into two parts, half of the strip tied to the rock, and half of it tied between the two horns of the goat. And he pushed the goat backward, and it rolls and descends. And it would not reach halfway down the mountain until it was torn limb from limb....
The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: Azazel is so called because it atones for the actions of Uzza and Azael. These are the names of “sons of God” who sinned with “daughters of men” (Genesis 6:2) and thereby caused the world to sin during the generation of the Flood.
(ה) וַיַּ֣רְא יְהֹוָ֔ה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכׇל־יֵ֙צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבּ֔וֹ רַ֥ק רַ֖ע כׇּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃
The Yalkut Shimoni (“Gathering of Simon”) is a midrash on the books of Tanakh, compiled between the 11th and 14th centuries. The author collected various interpretations of biblical passages from older midrashim and arranged them according to the portions of the Bible to which they referred.
...שאלו תלמידיו את רב יוסף מהו עזאל א"ל כיון שעמדו דור המבול ועבדו עבודה זרה היה הקב"ה מתעצב מיד עמדו שני מלאכים שמחזאי ועזאל ואמרו לפניו רבונו של עולם הלא אמרנו לפניך כשבראת את עולמך מה אנוש כי תזכרנו א"ל ועולם מה יהא עליו א"ל רבונו של עולם היינו מסתפקין בו א"ל גלוי וידוע לפני אם אתם שרויין בארץ היה שולט בכם יצר הרע והייתם קשים מבני אדם א"ל תן לנו רשות ונדור עם הבריות ותראה איך אנו מקדשין שמך א"ל רדו ותדורו עמהן מיד קלקלו עם בנות האדם שהיו יפות ולא יכלו לכבוש את יצרן...
...שמחזאי ועזאל כך עמדו ונשאו נשים והולידו בנים היווא והייא ועזאל היה על מיני צבעונין ועל מיני תכשיטין של נשים שמפתים את בני אדם להרהור עבירה מיד שגר מטטרון שליח לשמחזאי וא"ל עתיד הקב"ה להחריב עולמו ולהביא מבול לעולם מיד עמד בבכי והיה מצטער על העולם ועל בניו
...שמחזאי חזר בתשובה ותלה עצמו בין שמים לארץ ראשו למטה ורגליו למעלה ועדיין הוא תלוי בתשובה עזאל לא חזר בתשובה ועדיין הוא עומד בקלקולו להסית בני אדם לדבר עבירה בבגדי צבעונין של נשים ולכך היו ישראל מקריבין קרבנות ביום הכפורים איל אחד לה' שיכפר על ישראל ואיל אחד לעזאזל שיסבול עונותיהם של ישראל והוא עזאזל שבתורה:
...His students asked Rabbi Yosef, "Who is Azazel?" He replied, "At the time of the generation of the flood, when they engaged in idolatry, the Lord was immediately grieved. Two angels, Shemhazai and Azazel, stood before Him and said, 'Master of the Universe, did we not tell you when you created your world, "What is man that you are mindful of him?" And the world, what is it that you care about it?' God said to them, 'Is it not known to me if you were dwelling on earth, the evil inclination would reign over you, and you would be as hard to control as human beings?' They said to Him, 'Give us permission, and we will dwell among them and demonstrate how we sanctify Your Name.' He said to them, 'Go and dwell among them.' Immediately, they corrupted themselves with the daughters of men who were beautiful, and they were unable to conquer their desires....
Shemhazai and Azazel remained corrupt, and they impregnated women and had children with them. Azazel was involved with various types of adornments of women that incited men to sinful thoughts. When Metatron, the angel, was sent to Shemhazai, he said to him: "The blessed Holy One is about to destroy His world and to bring a deluge (over) the world." He wept and was pained for the world and his children...
...Shemhazai repented and hanged himself between heaven and earth with his head down and his feet up, and he is still hanging in his repentance. Azazel did not repent, and he still stands in his corruption, tempting people to commit sin with the colorful garments (or cosmetics) of women. Therefore, on the Day of Atonement, the Israelites would sacrifice one goat to God to atone for their sins, and another goat to Azazel to bear the sins of the Israelites, and it is Azazel mentioned in the Torah."
(ח) אמר סמאל לפני הקב"ה רבון כל העולמים על כל העכומ"ז נתת לי רשות ועל ישראל אין אתה נותן לי רשות, אמר לו הרי יש לך רשות עליהם ביום הכפורים אם יש להם חטא, ואם לאו אין לך רשות עליהם, לפיכך נותנין לו שוחד ביום הכפורים שלא לבטל את ישראל שלא לבטל קרבן של ישראל, שנאמר "גורל אחד לה' וגורל אחד לעזאזל".
(ט) גורלו של הקב"ה קרבן עולה וגורלו של עזאזל שעיר חטאת, וכל עונותיהם של ישראל עליו, שנאמר "ונשא השעיר עליו את כל עונותם", ראה סמאל שלא נמצא בהם חטא ביום הכפורים אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם יש לך עם אחד בארץ כמלאכי השרת בשמים:
מה מלאכי השרת אין להם קפיצין כך ישראל עומדים על רגליהם ביום הכפורים.
מה מלאכי ישראל אין להם אכילה ושתיה כך ישראל אין להם אכילה ושתיה ביום הכפורים.
מה מלאכי השרת נקיים מכל חטא כך ישראל נקיים מכל חטא ביום הכפורים.
מה מלאכי השרת שלום מתווך ביניהם כך ישראל שלום מתווך ביניהם ביום הכפורים. והקב"ה שומע עתירותן של ישראל מן הקטיגור שלהם ומכפר על המזבח ועל הכהנים ועל כל עם הקהל למגדול ועד קטן, שנאמר "וכפר את מקדש הקדש".
(8) Sammael said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the universe ! Thou hast given me power over all the nations of the world, but over Israel Thou hast not given me power. He answered him, saying: Behold, thou hast power over them on the Day of Atonement if they have any sin, but if not, thou hast no power over them. Therefore they gave him a present on the Day of Atonement, in order that they should not bring their offering, as it is said, "One lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel" (Lev. 16:8).
(9) The lot for the Holy One, blessed be He, was the offering of a burnt offering, and the lot for Azazel was the goat as a sin offering, for all the iniquities of Israel were upon it, as it is said, "And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities" (Lev. 16:22). Sammael saw that sin was not to be found among them on the Day of Atonement. He said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all the universe ! Thou hast one people like the ministering angels who are in heaven. Just as the ministering angels || have bare feet, so have the Israelites bare feet on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels have neither food nor drink, so the Israelites have neither food nor drink on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels have no joints, in like wise the Israelites stand upon their feet. Just as the ministering angels have peace obtaining amongst them, so the Israelites have peace obtaining amongst them on the Day of Atonement. Just as the ministering angels are innocent of all sin on the Day of Atonement, so are the Israelites innocent of all sin on the Day of Atonement. The Holy One, blessed be He, hears the prayers of Israel rather than (the charges brought by) their accuser, and He makes atonement for the altar, and for the sanctuary, and for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation both great and small, as it is said, "And he shall make atonement for the holy place" (Lev. 16:16).
...Now this is the secret of the matter. They used to worship “other gods,” namely, the angels, bringing offerings of a sweet savor to them, similarly to that which it says, and thou didst set Mine oil and My incense before them. My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savor, and thus it was; saith the Eternal G-d (Ezekiel 16:18-19). You have to contemplate the Scriptural text as it is written and [also] as [it is read according to the] Masoretic tradition. Now the Torah has absolutely forbidden to accept them as deities, or to worship them in any manner. However, the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded us that on the Day of Atonement we should let loose a goat in the wilderness, to that “prince” [power] which rules over wastelands, and this [goat] is fitting for it because he is its master, and destruction and waste emanate from that power, which in turn is the cause of the stars of the sword, wars, quarrels, wounds, plagues, division and destruction. In short, it is the spirit of the sphere of Mars, and its portion among the nations is Esau [Rome], the people that inherited the sword and the wars, and among animals [its portion consists of] the se’irim (demons) and the goats. Also in its portion are the devils called “destroyers” in the language of our Rabbis, and in the language of Scripture: se’irim (satyrs, demons), for thus he [i.e., Esau] and his nation were called sa’ir. Now the intention in our sending away the goat to the desert was not that it should be an offering from us to it — Heaven forbid! Rather, our intention should be to fulfill the wish of our Creator, Who commanded us to do so. This may be compared to the case of someone who makes a feast for his master, and the master commands the person making the feast, “Give one portion to that servant of mine,” in which case the host gives nothing [of his own] to that servant, and it is not to show him honor that he acts in that way to him, but everything is given to the master and it is the master that gives a gift to his servant; the host only observes his command and does in honor of the master whatever he commanded him to do. The master, however, out of his own compassion for the host, wanted all his servants to derive some enjoyment from it [the feast], in order that they may all speak of his [the host’s] praise and not of his shortcomings.
This then is the reason [for having someone] who casts the lots [on the two goats]. If the priest were to dedicate them merely, by word of mouth [without casting the lots], saying, “one for the Eternal” and “one for Azazel,” that would be like worshipping [Azazel] or taking a vow in its name. Rather, the priest set the two goats before the Eternal at the door of the Tent of Meeting, for both of them were a gift to G-d, and he gave to His servant that portion which came to him from G-d. It is he [i.e., the priest] who cast the lots on them, but it is His hand that apportioned them, something like that which it says, The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing of it is of the Eternal. Even after the casting of the lots, the priest placed the two goats before the Eternal, thus proclaiming that both are His and that by sending one away [to the desert] we intend merely to fulfill G-d’s wish, just as it said, And the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive ‘before the Eternal,’ to make atonement over him, to send him away etc. That is the reason why we do not ourselves do any act of slaughtering [of that goat, as this would imply that it is a proper offering which requires slaughtering]...