Yoma 67 a, b

Today we focus on a mishna that teaches about the goat offered to Azazel and about the sacrifice of the goat and bull together.  In both cases, we are faced with a gruesome depiction of the slaughter of animals in the name of our own atonement.

The goat sacrificed to Azazel is taken from Jerusalem to the cliff by the person sacrificing it and his escort.  The rabbis agree that it is likely they stop at booths along the way - perhaps 5 and perhaps 10 booths - where they are offered water and food.  I thought that they would be fasting at this time, and so I might be missing something. However, we learn in a note that they were offered food and drink because a person who has no access to food and drink is preoccupied with when and how they will find sustenance.

Only the person sacrificing the goat knows whether or not the ribbon on its head turns white until after the end of Yom Kippur.  This ribbon is different from the one tied to the goats' horns; it is tied to the goat's head and another ribbon is tied to a rock nearby.  The supernatural nature of this particular sign is puzzling.  What if the ribbon stayed red?  Did the priests lie about this and bleach the ribbon, or use a different ribbon to show the people?  I imagine that there would be quite the frenzy if the people believed that their sins were not atoned.

As well the Gemara questions some of the individual words in this Mishna.  What are the meanings of gezeira? Why is this sacrifice is to Azazel; what is the meaning of this word?  We learn about the possible connection between Azazel and the Azeal, one of the Jews who brought the flood upon us by having sexual relations with the sons of men..  Both the goat and the sperm of these men were 'lost'.  Now there's a metaphor!

The High Priest follows the sacrifice of Azazel with the immediate sacrifice of the goat and bull.  The mishna and our rabbis suggest that these two animals are cut apart and that their flesh is actually braided together so that when it is brought outside to the \Altar, they are burned together.

The rabbis' of what to question is fascinating.  Why not question the entire practice?  Instead, they choose one or two words and find connections.  Almost all that I can think about when I read learn these texts is the suffering of animals.  How could the rabbis justify dropping a goat to its death over a cliff where its body will get ripped apart?  How can they justify the bloody, gruesome nature of sacrifice?   Did no-one get sick to their stomachs when witnessing this scene?