Thursday, August 10, 2006

Daf Yomi - Yoma 65 - Atonement w/o the Azazel Goat

There is an argument in the Gemora in the following case: Thr kohen gadol concluded the applications of blood from the שעיר לה and subsuquently, the goat which was designated לעזעזל died. Rebbe Yehuda holds that it is not necessary to bring another one to send it off and Rebbe Shimon disagrees and holds that if the confession was not yet made on it, he must bring another one. Rashi states that according to both of them, the sending of the goat does not withold the atonement.

The גחלי אש is bewildered as to how this can be. Klal Yisroel's atnement seems to be dependent on the sending of the goat off the cliff? How can it be that we are not obligated to bring another one?

He does give an answer, but I am not certain as to the explanation. However, he does say that even in the above case, the kohen gadol would confess the sins of Klal Yisroel without the goat being there (seems like a big chidush to me).

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Sa'ir L'Azazel is an interesting case since it's unclear what the Avodah is. Pushing the goat off the cliff is parallel to Shechitah but Shechitah is K'sheirah B'Zar, and there is no equivalent of Kabalah, Holachah, etc. So the act of killing the Sa'ir doesn't seem to be the Avodah itself, nor is there any subsequent act that seems to qualify. Anyway, the whole concept of "Avodah" outside the Mikdash is problematic. If the Avodah is just the result that the Sa'ir L'Azazel become dead, its doing so fulfills this desideratum so long as it gains the identity of Sa'ir L'Azazel. The question then focuses on the Gemara's question re the centrality of the Goral; if the Goral is a significant part of the Avodah, it accomplishes formal designation of the goat as Sa'ir L'Azazal. If it is not, the full designation doesn't take place until Viduy on it. Might this be the Nekudas HaMachlokes?