Musar su Levitico 16:22

The ninth: "And You will hurl into the depths of the sea all of their sins" - this is a good trait of the Holy One, blessed be He. As behold, Israel sinned; He delivered them into the hand of Pharaoh, and they repented. Why [should] he punish Pharaoh? And likewise Sancheriv; and likewise Haman and those similar to them. The Holy One, blessed be He, is not only assuaged to say, "They have repented. If so, let them not have any more evil. If so, let Haman withdraw from them," or Pharaoh, or Sancheriv. This does not suffice. Rather, he puts the travail of Haman back on his head; and likewise Pharaoh; and likewise Sancheriv. And the reason for this practice is the secret of "And the goat carries upon him all of their iniquities to a desolate land" (Leviticus 16:22). And its explanation is that it carries the actual sins. But this is very difficult: And shall Israel sin and the goat carry [it]? Rather [this] trait is like this: A person confesses [sins], and his intention in the confession is to receive purification upon himself; like the matter that David stated (Psalms 51:4), "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity." And so, in our saying, "Purge [me] in Your great mercy," [one] is only praying that the afflictions be light, such that there not be a hindrance of Torah [study]; and this [is also the intention of] that which we say, "But not through bad (harsh) afflictions." And so, in his saying, "And You are righteous about all that happens to me" - he intends to truly accept afflictions with a pleasant countenance, in order to atone; as there are iniquities that [only] afflictions purge or that [only] death purges. And such is the trait: As soon as this one confesses in his prayer - they explained in the Zohar in Parshat Pekudei (p. 262b) that this is the portion of Samael, similar to the goat. What is his portion that the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed for him? Afflictions. And [so] Samael immediately arrives there and goes and collects his debt. And behold, [this is] the goat carrying the iniquities - that the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him authority to collect his debt, and Israel is [thus] purified. But, behold, it all devolves upon Samael. And the reason is because the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed upon His world, that anyone who does this, will be nullified. And this is the reason of, "and you shall kill the beast" (Leviticus 20:15). And likewise the stone of the commandment of those stoned; and the sword of the commandment of those killed, require burial (Sanhedrin 45b) to nullify their existence and power after their judgement is finished.

The mystical dimension of the firstling of the pure male animals is an allusion to the people of Israel who have been described by G–d (Exodus 4,22) as His בכור, His first-born. They are without blemish, a perfect congregation whom G–d (Ezekiel 34,31) has also called צאן מרעיתי "sheep of My pasture." This is why they may only be eaten by the priests. The deeper reason why when such firstlings have become blemished and been redeemed, they may be eaten by ordinary Israelites is, that the Israelites themselves also possess some degree of sanctity, have been called אדם. Adam used to be holy. He would have remained holy had he not sinned. This firstling animal was also holy until it contracted a blemish, the equivalent of sin. Just as sinful man can redeem himself, as we know from Isaiah 43,4: "ואתן אדם תחתיך," | give men in exchange for you," so also can this animal be redeemed. This is the mystical dimension of the Azazel which carries our sins. The Torah (Leviticus 16,22) speaks of ונשא השעיר עליו את כל עונותם, which our Rabbis read as on עונות תם, that the he-goat of the Azazel carries on its head the sins of a firstling animal contracting a blemish. On the other hand, we are forbidden to inflict a blemish on it in order to be able to consume it (after redemption). It is quite obvious that such one must not benefit from such an action. It is also forbidden to use animals consecrated as an offering for any mundane task and to use their hair after it has been shorn. The reason for this is easy to understand when one considers that the tablets which Moses had shattered also retained their sanctity.

G–d was not satisfied with this refusal by Samael, but pointed out that because Esau was the first-born, it was he who was entitled to receive the Torah. Samael replied that the birthright had already been sold to Jacob, and that he, Samael, had concurred in the validity of the sale during his nocturnal encounter with Jacob in Genesis 32,29. G–d thereupon said to Samael: "Since you are not interested in My Torah, depart from My domain." Samael accepted. G–d said to Samael: "Since you suggested that I offer the Torah to Israel, give me some advice how to go about persuading the children of Israel to accept the Torah from Me." Samael replied that it would be necessary to bribe Israel into accepting the Torah. He suggested that a suitable bribe would be to endow Israel with some of endowments of the Celestial Regions so as to make Israel feel superior. As an opening gesture he himself volunteered to bestow some of his own light on Israel and handed it over to G–d there and then. It is this "light" that the Torah describes as וזרח משעיר "It shone forth from Se-ir towards it" (Israel). This is the mystical dimension of Leviticus 16,22: ונשא השעיר עליו את כל עונותם, "The male goat will carry all their (Israel's) sins." The שעיר refers to Samael.