Just Don't Look Back The Curious Ritual Ubiquity of the Scapegoat

(1) The two [sacrificial] goats of Yom Kippur, it is a mitzvah that they be equal in appearance, height, value and be bought at the same time. But even if they are not equal, they are kosher. If one was bought one day, and another the next day, they are kosher. If one [of the goats] dies, if it dies before the lots were drawn, a partner for the second should be bought. If it dies after the lots were drawn, then another pair [of goats] should be brought and lots drawn over them as before, and [the one drawing lots] should say, if [the goat that was intended] for Hashem died, "Let the one for which the lot 'for Hashem' is drawn be established in its place." And if [the goat that was intended for] Azazel died, "Let the one for which the lot "for Azazel" is drawn be established in its place." The second [remaining goat] is left to graze until it develops a blemish, and then is sold, and its monetary value [is used to buy] free-will offerings, for we do not leave a communal chattat [sin] offering to die. Rabbi Yehuda says, We leave it to die. Rabbi Yehuda also said, if [the goat for Hashem's] blood spilled [before it could be sprinkled], the goat sent [to Azazel] is left to die [and another pair are brought]. If the goat sent [to Azazel] has died [first], then the blood [of the goat for Hashem] must be poured out [i.e., discarded, and another pair are brought].

(2) [The High Priest] would come to the goat for Azazel and place his two hands on it, and confess. And this is what he would say: "Please God, we, Your people the House of Israel, have committed wrongdoing, transgressed, and sinned before You. Please God, please forgive the wrongdoing, transgressions and sins that we, Your people the House of Israel, have committed, transgressed, and sinned before You. As it is written in the Torah of Moses Your servant (Leviticus 16:30), 'On this day, you will be forgiven and cleansed from all your sins—before Hashem you will be cleansed.'" Then, the priests and the people standing in the courtyard, when they heard the explicit Name from the mouth of the High Priest, would bend their knees, bow down and fall on their faces, and they would say, "Blessed be the Honored Name of His Sovereignty forever."

(3) They turned over [the goat sent to Azazel] to the person leading it [out to the wilderness]. Anyone could lead the goat out; however, the leading priests fixed a procedure [that a priest would lead it out] and would not allow a Yisrael [Jew not a member of the tribe of Levi] to lead it out. Rabbi Yose says, It once happened that Arsala led it out and he was a Yisrael.

(4) They made a special ramp for him [who led the goat out], because of the Babylonians who used to pull at his hair, and say to him, Take [our sins] and go quickly, take [our sins] and go quickly. The leading citizens of Jerusalem would accompany him to the first booth. There were ten booths from Jerusalem to Tzuk [the cliff to which the goat was taken], a distance of ninety ris [2/15 of a mil], seven and a half ris per mil [two thousand cubits, for a total distance of twelve milin].

(5) At every booth, they would say to him, Here is food and water. And they would accompany him from one booth to the next, except for the last one, since the escort would not go with him all the way to the cliff, but rather, he would watch his actions from a distance.

(6) What did he do [when he reached the cliff]? He divided the thread of the crimson wool, tied half to the rock, and tied the other half between its horns, and he pushed it from behind. It went rolling down, and before it reached half-way downhill, it was dashed to pieces. He returned and sat in the last booth until it became dark. And at what point did his garments become impure? From the moment he left the walls of Jerusalem. Rabbi Shimon says: from the moment he pushed it off the cliff.

(7) He [the High Priest] would go to the bull and the goat for the burnt offering [after sending off the goat to Azazel]. He would split [their carcasses] and remove their fats, place them on a tray and offer them on the altar. He reassembled the carcasses and took them out to the place of burning. And at what point would his clothing become impure? From the moment he went outside the walls of the Temple court. Rabbi Shimon says: From the moment the fire took hold in the majority [of the carcasses].

(8) They would say to the High Priest: The goat [for Azazel] has reached the wilderness. And how did they know that the goat had reached the wilderness? They used to set up towers and wave signal cloths, and thus they would know that the goat had reached the wilderness. Rabbi Yehuda says: But did they not have an obvious sign? The distance from Jerusalem to the place where the goat was pushed [off the cliff] was three milin. They could thus walk a mil, return a mil, and wait the amount of time it would take to walk a mil, and thus, they would know that the goat had reached the wilderness. Rabbi Yishmael says: But did they not also have another sign? They had a strip of crimson wool tied to the door of the Heikhal, and when the goat reached the wilderness, the crimson wool turned white, as it is written, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18).

(10) And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. (11) Then an angel of the LORD called to him from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” (12) And he said, “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.” (13) When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. (14) And Abraham named that site Adonai-yireh, whence the present saying, “On the mount of the LORD there is vision.”