Mishnah Yoma Chapter 4 Mishnah 1 Pt. 4
by Bronwen Mullin, Faculty
נְתָנוֹ עַל שְׁנֵי הַשְּׂעִירִים וְאוֹמֵר לַיי חַטָּאת
Then [the High Priest] placed [the two lots] upon the two goats and he would say, “For God, as a sin-offering.”
We are still deep in the ritual of the two goats—one “for G!D” and one “for Azazel.” The language used for the lots, for the appearance of “for G!D” or “for Azazel” is עלה or “goes up.” This root is the same root for the word עליה, as in “going up” to a place for pilgrimage. It’s also related to the word עולה, a sacrifice in the Temple cult that “goes up” completely in smoke. I’m struck by this rhetorical choice. Why not use נכתב for “it is written”, or נבחר, for “it is chosen”. In both of these alternatives I imagined a nif’al verb, a passive tone verb. Clearly either the name of G!D or the name Azazel is pre-written on these lots. Why did our text choose an active verb, “went up” (albeit it in the past tense)?
This ritual is a potent and volatile one. Known by many as the “ritual of the scapegoat”, for some it has become associated less with taking responsibility for wrongdoing and more for disassociating from wrongdoing and casting it away. This is why I wonder if an active verb was chosen, to remind us that our wrongdoings are not by chance, by coincidence. They happen, and often those who suffer at our hands are not active participants, but are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Perhaps like these two goats.