Our readings for today from the
Torah [Lev 16] and Haftarah [Is 57:14-58:14] are like two sides of the same
coin. Each deals with the same
questions: How do we protect ourselves from God's wrath for our mistakes? What behavior does God seek from us? How do achieve atonement?
But the
Torah and Haftarah answer these questions in very different ways.
Lev 16
focuses on one man - the High Priest.
We have the story of the two goats, one sacrificed to God, and the other
goat is laden with the sins of the people before being sent out into the
wilderness. Although this goat
metaphorically bears our sins, it is the High Priest who is really burdened
with all the tasks and responsibilities to successfully gain forgiveness for
Israel.
So Lev 16
is a play with one actor and two goats.
And this one actor is a whirlwind of activity - He must dress up in
special holy garments, take a bath, prepare a ram and a bull for offerings,
select the two goats and assign them by lot for their special roles, slaughter
the ram and bull, scoop up ashes and sprinkle blood, slaughter one goat and
sprinkle some more blood. Then he must
sprinkle some more blood, lay his hands on the other goat and confess the sins of
all the people on it and then send it off into the wilderness. Then he takes off his special garments,
takes another bath, and makes burnt offerings.
And what is
the outcome of all this effort by the High Priest? If this one man does the thing right, God forgives all the
people of Israel.
What can we
say about this whole process:
It is purely
ritual; the acts are not inherently moral.
It is very
physical - burning animals and sprinkling blood, laying hands on the goat and
watching it wander off in the distance until it disappears. I find that I am affected by this type of
ritual. When we did Tashlich after the First Day's Rosh
Hashanah Service last week, we recited sins we want to free ourselves from, and
then we threw pieces of bread upon the water.
The act of throwing the bread caused me to feel lighter - not because my
sins were actually leaving me, but I think because the physical movement helps
me realize that I have the capacity to cast off behavior I want to avoid, a
realistic opportunity to do better.
Actions of the body help clarify, and reinforce, and connect with
intellect, morality and spirit.
Another
interesting aspect of this process in Lev 16 is that it is essentially
dependent on one person, the High Priest - and all Israel vicariously gains
forgiveness from God as a consequence of the High Priest's actions. For this one day, the High Priest in Lev 16
is a model for a redeeming Messiah.
By
the way, can you think of other Jewish examples of the people being redeemed
vicariously through the acts of another?
The most prominent is the patriarchs and matriarchs - we still ask God to remember
them and save us for the sake of their merit, not our own.
We could
infer that in Lev 16 there is only one hero in this ritual - the High
Priest. But the real hero of the
chapter may be the goat that is laden with sins and led out to wander in the
wilderness - where this sad creature is supposed to encounter Azazel. Azazel, according to Midrash, is a fallen
angel, who teaches men to make weapons, lusts after earthly women and devises
sensual ornaments so women can lead men astray. The goat released into the wilderness may be a symbol of what
will happen to the people Israel in their constant wandering in Exile from land
to land, allowed to reside only at the pleasure of foreign rulers and exploited
or banished at whim. Azazel could be a
symbol of the tyrants that make trouble for Jews in their wanderings.
Now what
does the Haftarah say. The prophet
Isaiah is also concerned with atonement in his time, which is seven centuries
after the time of the first High Priest, Aaron.
Isaiah in
this passage detests ritual that he perceives to be hypocritical, and instead
demands deeds of loving kindness.
Isaiah
clarifies what God wants - not a fast to mortify the body, not ritual without
righteousness or human connection.
Isaiah passionately calls on the people to free the oppressed, feed the
hungry, take the homeless into your home, and clothe the naked. Isaiah seeks social justice, and moreover,
he seeks it at a very high level. He
demands more than charity. He wants
those in need to be integrated into the community and the lives of the
people. These ringing words lay the
groundwork for important later texts, like the Rambam's 8 levels of charity,
where the highest level is to go into partnership with a needy person and
personally build up his capacity to earn his own living.
From this
Haftarah one could get the impression that rituals are less important than good
deeds. Rituals are important to bring
people together to genuinely express devotion to God, and connect with others
in the past, present and future who do these same rituals. In a physical way they embody and reinforce
our thoughts, words and feelings. They
allow us to relive experiences in Jewish history and affirm our identity. They also structure our time; when we do a
ritual we are connecting with a specific day, week, month, year or life cycle
event.
Which is more important to do on Yom
Kippur, and throughout the year - ritual or kind deeds? As with other either-or choices in Judaism,
the best answer is: Yes. Both are
essential. It is significant that the
well-known Jewish trinity from Tractate Avot says: On 3 things does the world stand: On Torah meaning study, on Worship
meaning ritual, and on Deeds of loving kindness
For our Congregation, I'm glad that for these
High Holidays we have collected many items to deliver to Project
Homestart. Throughout the year, we
should continue to combine our Services with Social Justice Projects.
