Goat to Zell- Parshat Vayelech-Yom Kippur edition 2018 / 5779

Insights and Inspiration

from the

Holy Land
from

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

"Your friend in Karmiel"

September 14^th 2018 -Volume 8 Issue 47 5^th  Tishrei 5779!!!

Parshat Vayelech/ Yom Kippur

Goat to Zell

(what a terrible title)

Jewish phrases have meaning and depth. I’m not just talking about the words of our sages and prophets, I’m talking about the average Yankel and Berel. Their slang, their vernacular has depth and meaning and is many times rooted in deep tradition and wisdom. Our sages tell us that when in doubt about something go check out what the “amcha” – the regular guy on the street has to say or does. The collective wisdom of the Jewish people “if they are not prophets they are sons of prophets.” It’s why I like to add the Yiddish quote of the week in  my E-Mail. When I write those pearls of wisdom, I hear the amcha, I hear the genius and perhaps even the prophecy of our people in their simple day to day phrases.

Now I don’t know how far you can take this thing. But I’ve always liked to push the line and there is no greater “amcha” then your typical Israeli on the street. The wagon drivers, water carriers and peddlers of old are the modern day taxi drivers, barkeeps and guys that sell stuff in the shuk. Now the eengleesh words that they tranzleeterrchrait here don’t count of course, like logeestika, or mahnumentalit, or autobooz. I’m talking about the Israeli words that have depth to them. It’s before Yom Kippur so there’s one in particular that sticks out. I heard it first when I got into an argument with an Israeli that I was upset about for not doing what he had told me he was supposed to do and I refused to pay him therefore in full. I was more than happy to pay him for what he did. Just not for what he didn’t. He for some reason didn’t understand that logic. And after a few minutes of elevated discussion when he realized that I had lived here a few months already and was no longer a freiyer- another great Israeli word for sucker, but literally means a “free person” imaginably someone who pays for free things. He then told me quite agitatedly

“Lech La’Azazel- go to Azazel”

Now in America I am familiar with a different place they would tell people you were upset with to go to. It ended with double hockey sticks and kind of rhymes with Azazel. But I guess here in Israel as frustrated as you might be with someone you would never ever tell them to down there. So we came up with an alternate place for people you were upset with to go to. A biblical place certainly and in fact a place I visit quite often with my tourists in the Judean desert; Azazel mountain. For those that fall asleep during the lengthy part of the Yom Kippur service and missed the Torah portion of Acharey Mot that we read on that day as well- hey, it’s a long service I sympathize with you and I’m here to give you the short version. Ok maybe not that short… but it’s not nearly as many pages as your prayer book. Anyways it’s the tallest mountain in the Desert,, about 12 km from Jerusalem that the Kohen would one of the twin goats that were chosen by lottery to the cliff and chuck it and all the sins of the Jewish people off the mountain. Meanwhile his twin brother was taken as an offering in the Holy Temple. When the scapegoat, yes that’s another one of those Jewish terms we coined, was thrown off the mountain and atonement was achieved the red string hanging in the temple would miraculously turn to white and it would be a sign all our sins had been forgiven. So that’s where the guy was telling me to go. Hmmm strange.. is he telling me to jump off a cliff? Is he saying I need atonement?

Now being interested in this phrase I researched its advent into the lingua franca or hebraica of the country. As it seems that a lot of people are being told to go there. It’s actually a pretty cool story. It seems the first time the phrase was coined was in 1927 by none other a great Yiddish speaker and enthusiast Chaim Nachman Bialik was walking down the street in Tel Aviv speaking to his friend in Yiddish. He was accosted by Aharon Nachmani, a young and zealous member of the Battalion for the Defence of the Language, a group dedicated to policing the exclusive use of Hebrew among Palestine Jews. Can you imagine if they had a organization like that today? We would be in serious trouble. But for that matter so would many peetza and amboorger eating Izraelees. So he approached Bialik and shouted “Bialik, speak Hebrew!” to which the annoyed Bialik responded, “Lech le'azazel!”

This could have been the end of the story, but Nachmani went to court and sued Bialik for insulting him. In his defence, Bialik wrote:

“It is possible that the word is a bit harsh according to its regular use in the marketplace, but according to its accurate and real meaning, it is a name of a mountain in the desert, not far from Jerusalem a two-three hour walk in the Judean Desert. And this place, in my opinion, is pretty dignified place for that man to take a walk in.”

 Nachmani withdrew his lawsuit and was charged 180 prutot in court fees. I wonder if he appreciated the irony of paying 10 times chai to Azazel.

Now what it this sacrifice and ritual really about. It definitely should rank up there with some of the more bizarre ones in our tradition to our western mindset worldview. And we’ve got a lot of competition for that title. Listen to the clip of the Country Yossi ‘Cuz I’m a Jew’ to hear all of those in the running. The commentaries have a field day trying to figure it out. The Ibn Ezra cryptically says that whoever understands the secret of 33 will find the answer. Now I know Baskin Robbins 31 flavours. What’s 33?

The Ramban explains the 33 secret by explaining that if one counts 33 verses from the verse that talks about the Azazel you arrive at the pasuk

Vayikra (17:7) And they shall no longer slaughter their sacrifices to the se’irim-demons after which they stray. This shall be an eternal statute for them, for [all] their

generations.

The word for demons, sei’rim is also the word for goats, and there you have it. It seems that the Jews worshipped idols with goats, so to rectify that Hashem commands us to take that goat and chuck it off the mountain, thus taking our former idolatry and turning it into a mitzva. This is a secret and although I’m 33 for like 15 years or so now, it doesn’t really speak to me. I was never into idolatry and although I haven’t really eaten goat steaks, I’ve heard their pretty good and wouldn’t waste any on any demons. As well I have a hard time finding an eternal message for all generations that makes this the pinnacle of our Yom Kippur service.

Rav Hirsch and Rav Dessler see in the word Azazel two words. Az is strength and azal means to move. We use the strength of our opponents against them. The Satan comes to us with our desires and we are meant to take those desires and move with them. Like good food, eat it on Shabbos and holidays. Like to talk a lot-  speak Torah, write an endless weekly E-mail. Like money and nice things make your mitzvos beautiful, make sure the poor have as much enjoyment as you do. A nice concept as well. We use that desire for idolatry for atonement in the service of Hashem as commanded. But still how is this an atonement for all sins.

Other commentaries note that the two identical twin goats represent Yaakov and Esau. Each one until 13 were on the same track. Then Yaakov chose life, Torah, holiness and spirituality, Esau went out to the fields. The symbolism of Azazel is Hashem choosing us over him. Imagine the goats mindset. The one going to the Temple thinks he’s in trouble. He sees dead animals all over. The temple was a slaughterhouse. The other goat thinks he’s off the hook. He’s going for a nice quiet walk in desert. He strokes his billy goat beard and breathes in the beautiful air of this world, checks out the view from that highest peak and laughs about the fate of his brother that was “chosen”.   I guess he got the short straw. What bad luck. Then… boom. Bye Bye Billy goat. This world and all its sins are temporary. It’s all downhill when you leave the Temple. The goat in the Temple though becomes eternal. Becomes uplifted. He is one with Hashem.

Reb Meir Simcha of Dvinsk though perhaps shares one of the more original ideas about this sacrifice. He suggests that we have two major sins at the founding of us as a nation that are the cause of all of our troubles. The sin of the Golden Calf, when 40 days after receiving the Torah we were dancing around worshipping idols. That sin represents essence of all sins between Man and God. There is as well the sin of the brothers selling Yosef to Egypt. sinat chinam- baseless hatred, this is the core of all sins between man and his fellow man. By Yosef we dipped his coat in the blood of a goat. He points out as well that the string that was tied in horns of the goat weighed two selaim- which is the same amount of weight that the material for Yosef’s coloured garment over his brother weighed. Cool!

In the case of the golden calf the Torah tells us when Aharon dedicated the Mishkan Hashem tells us Aharon

Vayikra (9:20) And say to Aharon that he should take a calf the son of a bull as a sin offering.. and to the children of Israel tell them saying they should take a goat for a sin offering.

The midrash notes that Aharon was nervous about coming into the Temple because of the sin of the golden calf and Hashem tells him to bring the calf to atone and that the Jewish people would bring a goat. And so there you have the two goats.

He, as well, notes that’s why the two goats atonement had to take place in different places. The one that was offered to Hashem for the sin of the golden calf and thus all sins between man and Hashem was brought in the courtyard heichal of the Temple and the Holy of Holies which is the portions of the tribe of Yehudah and the mainly in the tribe of Binyamin. The children of Leah and Rachel. We all sinned by the golden calf. We all need atonement for our sins between us and Hashem. The other goat which atones for the sin of the selling of Yosef and for our sins between our fellow man, can’t take place in the Temple in the portion of Binyamin. He was the only tribe that wasn’t a party to that sin. It was Yehuda that was the ringleader. It is therefore taken out to the Midbar Yehuda. It is thrown off the mountain as that symbolizes the throwing of Yosef into the pit. The throwing off of our ego that is on the highest mountain and that is the root of all of our fights with our friends. We think we know better. We think we are right. He dissed ME. I’m the king. I’m the leader. I should be the favoured son. I deserve all the coloured coats. We chuck that ego off the mountain and poof we are atoned. We are free of the worst baggage that we have. Our pride, our ego, and our relentless narcissistic behaviour that brings us down.

What is most fascinating and meaningful to me about going to Azazel, is that the goat of Azazel and the goat of the temple are identical. One is not more important than the other. Our sins between our fellow person and our sins between us and our Creator are the same. They are two sides of the two tablets. Reb  Yitzchak Kamarna notes that the verse

V’ahavta Es Hashem Elokecha-and you shall love Hashem our God and Vahavta Lirayacha Kamocha Ani Hashem – and you shall love your friend like yourself I am Hashem are both in gematria identical (907) . Like the two goats. identical.

 We need forgiveness for both. We need to get to the core of them both. We can’t bury them anymore. We can’t just focus on one. We can’t just be all about God and Torah and mitzvos and forget our obligations to our friends. We need to be menschen. At the same time being a mench is not enough. We need to connect with our Creator. We need to reveal His Presence to the world. We need to follow his direction of life for us. We need to bring heaven to earth and connect with eternity. We need to lech la’azazel to get our atonement. We need to bury pride. We need to come with humility. We need to want to be forgiven.

At this time of year, as every year, I wish to aske forgiveness from all of you. I don’t express my appreciation to you enough. You and your reading fill me with inspiration each week and force me to focus, read, learn and grow. Thank you. Especially those of you that even occasionally give me feedback and particularly constructive criticism. That’s more important and appreciated then the occasional LOL’s and accolades some of you sometime share with me. As well I want to ask forgiveness if I offended you ever, if I quoted or made up stuff that wasn’t true or misquoted. I have. And most of all I wish to bless all of you that all of us should merit to have all of our sins thrown to Azazel, may we be uplifted in the holiest of way with the Temple rebuilt and may we blessed with a Gmar Chatima Tova.

Have a holy Shabbos of Return and a Gmar Chatima Tova

Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz

********************************************************

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S FAVORITE YIDDISH PROVERB OF THE WEEK

“Der gehenem iz nit azoi shlecht vi dos kumen tsi im..”– Gehenom is not as bad as the way coming to it.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S TOUR GUIDE EXAM QUESTION OF THE WEEK

answer below at end of Email

Q A ruler who destroyed fortresses from the 5^th Crusade:

A. Baibars

B. al Hakim bi Amar Allah

C. Dar el Omar

D. al Malik al Mu’azzam Isa

RABBI SCHWARTZ COOL VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0KjxPhW_8g- Classic Country Yossi “Cuz I’m a Jew”

https://youtu.be/WgCMi9MnVgY- Whats Shabbos Shuva without Reb Shlomo Carlebach Return Again

https://youtu.be/WpV4MVHKkSg- Gornisht- a interesting song by Eliezer Brodt

https://youtu.be/rTWhtUIv9t0  - I love this new moving song of Baruch Levine- Kivisi

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfsmLgD2ZFM – Funny Goat videos

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S HAFTORA CONNECTION OF THE WEEK

Parshat Vayelech – I find that most haftoras are the part of davening when we doze off, or perhaps in some finer shuls the “the boys” head our for kiddush club. Generally most people (myself included) have a difficult enough time sitting through davening and Torah reading, but haftora, the tune, the words of the prophet that were usually in flowery poetic and repetitive language would put me to sleep. Yet there were a few haftorahs that I would be up for. That I think everyone is. That people know the first few pesukim  and many of the other ones. They call to us. We are awake and they’re pretty short too 😊. Shabbos Shuva is one of those.

Who doesn’t know the first words of the prophet

Hoshea (14:2) Shuva Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha ki kashalta b’avonecha-return Israel to your God for you have stumbled in your iniquity.

After 7 weeks of Yeshaya’s comforting us we have come to the “the best of” list of three prophets Hoshea, Micha and Yoel, just a few verses from each of these prophets but each one of the verses are classic parts of our texts, our prayers and our liturgy as they encompass the core of what all our prayers are about.

Ibid (14:3) Vnishalma parim sifaseinu- and we should pay back or complete our “cows” (for sacrifices) with our lips.

Hashem doesn’t need our sacrifices, He wants our hearts. Our love and he waits for us to return.

He even mentions my name

(14:9) Ephraim; What more do I need the graven images? I will answer him and I will look upon him: I am like a leafy cypress tree; from Me your fruit is found.

The whole service of tashlich can be found in the words of Micha in his image which became Jewish ritual of

Micha (7:8) Cast in the depths of the sea all your sins

The conclusion of Yoel is really the essence of these days Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkos

Yoel (2:15) Blow the shofar in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly;

The final words is our hope and prayer for the redemption for the time when all is forgiven and when Hashem promises to restore the land and make up for all those years we have been apart.

Ibid(2:27) And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Hashem your God, and there is none else; and My people shall never be ashamed. 

Micha the prophet (758-742nBC)-  Little is known about the personal life of the prophet Micah. He came from a town called Moreshet, and was therefore called Morashti. He lived during the reign of king Jotham of Judah, and succeeding kings, about 150 years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. In this time, as often before him and after him, the people of both Judah and of the Northern Kingdom, had abandoned the ways of G‑d. Jerusalem and Samaria, the capitals of the two Jewish kingdoms, were centers of idol worship and bad living. The rich oppressed the poor, and the laws of the Torah were rejected.

Fearlessly, as the prophecy of G‑d rested on him, Micah came out to denounce the evils that had filled his beloved land. He warned that Samaria and Jerusalem would be destroyed. The prophecy about Samaria was fulfilled only a short time later, less than a quarter of a century; it was destroyed by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, in the year 3205 (after Creation). Jerusalem existed for another 133 years, and was destroyed until it was destroyed.

RABBI SCHWARTZ'S ERA’S AND THEIR PLACES AND PEOPLE IN ISRAEL OF THE WEEK

Yom Kippur sacrifice- 960 BC – A little pause from our chronological historical sites and era for the upcoming holiday of Yom Kippur. This holiday has certainly transformed and/or e -or de-volved since it was once practiced in the Temple and I try to share that concept with my tourists, perhaps giving them an extra reason to long for the return of the Temple. See in the Temple times the Talmud tells us this was the happiest day of the year. No one sat in synagogue all day with a prayer book counting pages. They didn’t even have prayer books back then.

Rather it was a day when the Jewish people gathered in the Temple and stood in awe of the Almighty. They watched the High Priest/Kohen Gadol in all his holy clothing preform the service. They heard him recite the explicit name of Hashem numerous times as he asked for forgiveness and blessed them. All eyes were turned to a hanging red string that symbolized our iniquities as they waited for it to change colour to white. Then they would go out to the fields and vineyards and dance and the young men would meet the young woman and it would be a major shidduch matchmaking scene. Perhaps something to consider to solve the current shidduch crisis? Yes it was certainly different back then.

I like to mention this idea to my tourists. I enjoy pointing out paradigm shifting things about the way that we observe our Judaism and how it differed back then. As well its cool to be able to connect what the Torah and our sages tell us about our history and rituals with seeing and imagining the scenes and places these took place. So obviously the best place to talk about this is from Mt. Azazel itself or Jabel Muntar as its pronounced in Arabic. The mountain which is the highest in the Judean desert and about 12 Km from Jerusalem, as described by chazal was the site of non-Jewish worship after the Temple was destroyed and one can still see remains of Mosaic rock there. It’s amazing to stand there and look over to Yerushalyim and Temple Mount with next to the very visible Mt. of Olives and Har Tzofim and appreciate the path the Kohen took to get here with the scapegoat-literally.

Of course as well I like to speak about the tons of Bedouin goats that are in the area and sometimes even like to stop and show them a few. Finally I like to point out the Yom Kippur festival as we drive through the hills of Yerushalayim and we pass the vineyards.

Just as we have seen the prophecies of this once desolate area rebuilt and flourished may we soon merit to see the Yom Kippur restored to its original glory.

RABBI SCHWARTZ’S REALLY TERRIBLE YOM KIPPUR AND GOAT JOKES  OF THE WEEK

What do you call a goat with a beard?
It is goatee!

Why is it hard to carryon a conversation with a goat?
Because they are always butting in.

What do you call a goat on a mountain?
Hillbilly.

Doctor, Doctor I feel like a goat".
"How long have you felt like that"?
..... "Since I was a kid".

Why did the ram run over the cliff?
Answer: ...He didn't see the ewe turn.

What kind of music do goats listen to?
…...Baaa-ch!

What do you call a goat dressed like a clown? A silly billy. 

Rabbi to congregant:"Yes I understand that Burger Bar has a kashrut certificate and that they call it "fast" food......but you still can't eat it on Yom Kippur!"

A Jewish painter once went to speak privately with his rabbi shortly in Elul, the month that precedes the High Holy days. He confided in him that he had done dreadful things professionally: he had used poor quality paint and lied about it; he had not prepared the surfaces properly and lied about it; and had thinned his paint with turpentine. He asked what he could do to atone. Responded his rabbi:

"Repaint. Repaint, and thin no more."

************

Answer is D–  This one was a coin toss for me. I got it wrong. I was never good with Arab names. They’re all Muhammed or Ali or Abu something or other, and knowing that no one that I would ever take on a tour would ever really care, I deleted all that information from my brain the second I passed the exam in order to leave room fro far more important information like where the best mehadrin restaraunts might be. It was a coin toss because I deleted two from the list right away. See Baibars was the Mamaluk guy from Egypt that wiped out Louis IX yemach shemo (may his wicked name be obliterated-He was the guy that massacred Jews and burned all of the Talmuds in Paris and who St. Louis is named after) and that was the 7^th Crusade about 50 years after the 5^th Crusade. Dahr Al Omar as well was in the 1700’s during the Ottaman period and was the ruler of Akko, he rebuilt on top of the Crusader city. I know that because I tour Akko a lot. So it left El Malik and El Hakim. Do you even care which one? I guessed Hakim. I was wrong Hakim was before the first Crusade and Malik was the man. I’m not losing any sleep or tourists over my failure to know that one.