Cytowanie Komentarza do Kapłańska 16:22

A rational approach to this legislation: the calf which is being killed, עגלה ערופה, is a similar phenomenon to the שעיר לעזאזל, the scape-goat, which is killed after it (symbolically) carries the sins of the entire Jewish people (Leviticus 16,10). Both wind up in a totally barren environment. Something similar happens to one of the birds offered by the person who has been declared cured of the dreaded skin disease tzoraat. It is released into the air after its partner has been slaughtered and the surviving bird’s blood has been dipped in the blood of the bird which has been slaughtered (Leviticus 14,51-53). The surviving bird is perceived as carrying the guilt of the person for whom it atones into certain nether regions inhabited by demons and the like. All of the three phenomena we listed have as their purpose to blunt possible accusations by spiritually negative forces which abound in the world and which look for any excuse to assume the role of prosecuting attorney against the Jewish people.
From a technical point of view it would have been enough for the Torah to write that the valley in question should be one which has neither been worked nor sown, i.e. לא יעבד ולא יזרע. Why did the Torah add the extra word בו (verse 4)? The Torah wanted to make clear that not only the valley but also the calf itself must not have performed any kind of work. By being so totally undomesticated, the animal is perceived as (still) belonging to the domain of the forces appointed by G’d to rule in the desert and similar inhospitable places (as we explained on other occasions). When the calf’s neck is broken then it occurs in the domain of these demonic forces. The very word איתן implies that the valley is very harsh, hard, tough.
The reason that the Torah spelled the word שפכה with the letter ה at the end, instead of the letter ו which we would have expected, may be an allusion to the fact that if one kills a person one deprives him of his five senses. By doing so, the murderer has destroyed an entire world. The world had been created with the last letter ה of the tetragrammaton (Bereshit Rabbah 12,9). The reason for this somewhat exaggerated sounding description of the murder of a single individual is the fact that G’d created only a single human being at the beginning. If he had been killed prematurely, the human race would have been exterminated as the result of such a single act of killing.
The reason for the words כפר לעמך ישראל אשר פדית ה', “provide atonement for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed o Lord” (verse 8), is simple. The procedure of killing this calf resulted in our providing these demonic forces with a delight. This enhances the power of these forces to act as advocates for the prosecution against Israel. As a result, we have to ask forgiveness, כפרה, from Hashem for having been forced to make use of this legislation. Similar considerations are valid in connection with the שעיר לעזאזל. In Leviticus 16,33, at the conclusion of the whole procedure, the Torah writes: “He shall bring atonement upon the Holy of Holies, and upon the Tent of meeting and the Altar; he will bring atonement for the priests and all the people.” In other words, after the whole Yom Kippur service has been dealt with the Torah had to write these words to show that having somehow caused satisfaction to the Azzazel, the people and all concerned are in need of atonement for this.

According to our explanation, “I will heal their backsliding” refers to both man and beast, as it states above (Hosea 14:3) and we will offer the prayers of our lips instead of bulls. For through the confession of our lips, we fulfill our obligations, and in this way, the bulls are also exempted from being sacrificed. The reason for sacrifices is that the animal-like nature within man is shared with other beasts and creatures of the earth. Therefore, the animal comes as a substitute for man. In God’s mercy upon all His creations, both man and beast, He taught the way of repentance to the wayward daughter.
Although the term backsliding[meshuva] is only applicable to the sinning human and not to the animal, nevertheless, when a person brings a sacrifice and lays their hands upon it and confesses over it, it is as if all their sins are carried by that animal, as it is written (Leviticus 16:22) And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities. Therefore, it is appropriate to include the animal in the word their backsliding [meshuvatam].
And He says, I will love them freely, because I do not love them out of obligation, but rather as a free gift. Just as I created them initially as a free gift, so too now I love all the work of My hands freely, for My anger has turned away from him — from man. Therefore, both are exempted — man and beast.
For I will be as dew to Israel, like this dew that everyone rejoices in. He shall blossom like the lily, because every penitent is like someone born on that day, as it is written (Psalms 103:3-5) Who forgives all your iniquities, followed by your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

They handed it over to him who was to lead it away. All were fit to lead it away, but the priests made a fixed rule not to permit an Israelite to lead it away. Rabbi Yose said: it once happened that Arsela led it away, although he was an Israelite. Whereas the Torah simply states, “And the goat shall be set free in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:22), the rabbis put forth an elaborate description of the process. The first thing is that the goat is handed over to someone. This person can be anyone, even a non-priest, but the high priests established the practice that only other priests should be honored with this privilege. On the other hand, Rabbi Yose testifies that one time someone named Arsela lead the goat away and he wasn’t a priest.

עזאזל AZAZEL — (The word is taken to be a compound of עזז "to be strong" and אל "mighty"). It was a precipitous and flinty rock — a towering peak, for it is said (v. 22) "[and the goat shall bear upon it their iniquities into] an גזר) "ארץ גזרה means to cut) — into a craggy land (Yoma 67b).