Yoma 61 a, b

What do we do when we make mistakes?  The High Priest has to get these rituals right.  The day before Yom Kippur, he exerts himself physically and readies himself psychologically the following day.  The night before Yom Kippur, he is kept awake. All night.  And then, the most holy day of the year - the High Priest must perform one rite after another without mistakes.  He has to remember to perform dozens of rituals properly and in order.  But what about when he makes a mistake?

Daf 61 allows us to watch the rabbis deal with the real possibility of error.  When the High Priest offers/sprinkles/pours the blood of the bull and the goat, he is actively atoning for the sins of the Jewish people.  This is not a metaphor.  Atonement only happens when these rituals are completed properly.  Thus errors are considered to be potentially fatal for huge numbers of people.  From a more modern perspective, errors without the subsequent wrath of G-d might cause the community to question the efficacy of these rituals.

The rabbis are able to create contingency plans for a host of potential errors.  They look to related protocols (ex. when lepers are returned to the community) and they create new rules to manage errors.  Most of the discussions revolve around whether or not rites should be/can be repeated following an error. Some rabbis believe that in different cases, it is inappropriate to repeat a ritual and thus sacrifice twice, for example, when we are told specifically to sacrifice once.  Others argue that since the first ritual was improper, it was not in fact the required ritual act at all.

And to another point - why does blood represent atonement?  What is it about that particular substance?  Why sacrifice an animal for its blood; why not stick with incense and meal offerings which are also "G-d given"?   Perhaps animals were more costly and more valuable and thus their sacrifice was more meaningful?  But why blood?  What differentiates human blood from animal blood?  Perhaps animal blood is as close as we can get to human blood, and giving of our own blood would be a true sacrifice?  

It is incredibly difficult to understand the context of these ritual sacrifices.  I cannot find personal meaning in these rites as they are so removed from my experience.  Even the notion of atonement through sacrifice... a scapegoat is the opposite of my preferred process for atonement.  I want to own up  to what I have done wrong, to take responsibility for my actions and try not to repeat them.  How would an animal's sacrifice help me to take personal responsibility?

Our ancestors abdicated their personal responsibility to a High Priest who was exhausted, possibly elderly, and overwhelmed.  But they each offered an animal, and so there was some personal involvement.  In addition, they came together as a community while the High Priest performed these rituals, forging a more cohesive community for a couple of days.  Perhaps blood-rites create a deeper sense of importance.  

The notion of atonement in itself is difficult.  No one can judge whether or not another person has truly atoned.  For some of these ancient rituals, the High Priest is alone in the Holy of Holies.  He might atone 'properly' and he might not; we are not given access to his process.  Perhaps atonement is about trust in each other: I will do what I'm supposed to do and i will choose to believe that you are doing your part.  And whether or not G-d punishes us for our errors/omissions/repetitions/etc., we are only in control of ourselves - we are not in control of the entire process.