Mishnah Yoma Chapter 4 Mishnah 1 Pt. 2
by Bronwen Mullin, Faculty
הַסְּגָן בִּימִינוֹ וְרֹאשׁ בֵּית אָב מִשְּׂמֹאלוֹ
The deputy [was] to [the High Priest’s] right, and the head of the patrilineal family [was] to his left.
It was such a blessing to be with y’all today! And speaking of blessings, and all things ritual-y, we’re in it y’all! We’re square in the middle of the most potent ritual-theater-y moment of Yom Kippur—the selection of lots for the goat “to G!D” and the goat “to Azazel”, the scapegoat, as it were. And as it turns out, in this both strange and familiar ritual (less that we’ve done it, more that we’ve heard about it) we get a very familiar piece of choreography—the Deputy Priest (סגן) stands to the right of the High Priest, and the head of the patrilineal family (ראש בית אב) stands to the left of the High Priest. Some of y’all may remember this choreography of Yoma Mishnah 3:9 which occurs right after the High Priest made the formal confession for his household, the Priests at large, and then for the whole community of Israel (this also happens to be my favorite part of the YK liturgy). So question friends—what’s with this repeat choreo? What’s the significance, if any?
Truth be told, repetitive ritual staging can be very artistic and meaningful. Consider the Sufi whirling dervish or the Catholic mass for example, or the taking up of tzitzit at the recitation of Shema. But today I found myself compelled by the prefixes in our choreography. Don’t run, I promise this will get interesting 🙂 The phrase “to the right” or “to his right” is בימינו, which would more literally translate as “in his right” or “by means of his right”. The phrase “to the left” or “to his left” is משמאולו, which would more literally translate as “from his left”. The ב here implies a kind of intimacy and closeness, whereas the מ here implies a kind of distance or remove. Why are we using different prefixes for the directions? Is it just idiom, or is there something deeper going on?
You guessed it—there’s something deeper going on. But y’all knew I was going there, right? In Jewish mysticism the right side is associated with Divine Chesed / חסד, overflowing love and kindness. The left side, however, is associated with Divine Gevurah / גבורה, strength and judgment. Even though in the end the use of these prefixes may have just become commonplace idiom, I think they were birthed from a place of folk magic and mystical wisdom—the High Priest is surrounded on both sides to remind us that being made in the Divine Image, we are comprised of these different sides as well, and we are at our best when we are intimate with our kindness, and maybe more distant from, or discerning, when it comes to how we impose our strength and judgment. When I think about the world we are living in today, especially this day when I am mourning the loss of Oded, Shiri, and her two children Ariel and Kfir, I am thinking about how to hold kindness and strength in balance for the sake of the world, for the sake of the tiny world that is held within each and every child, from Israel, Palestine, and every place the Breath of Being has touched. To make the world a sacred space, we must see ourselves as the ones making the offering, as the ones willing to be vulnerable and make confession of wrongdoing when it is ours to confess, the courage to call out and protest the wrongdoing of those around us when the powers-that-be do not, and all this for that most holy task of striving with our neighbors to effect repair. May this be a cherished part of our legacy from our queerly priestly rabbinic ancestors <3