AZAZEL

The Torah reading on Yom Kippur is from the Book of Leviticus, chapter 16. This Parasha describes the ritual of apologizing for and redressing sins on the Day of Atonement. The ritual involves two similar appearing goats. One goat is sacrificed at the altar in the Tabernacle. The second goat is sent into the desert, “for Azazel.”

Azazel may be the name given to this sacrificial goat. It may represent the mighty and strong nature of that goat. This animal is tasked with carrying away all the sins of the people. The name “Azazel” might refer to the Satan. Azazel may be a high cliff that the goat will, in its fear, mindlessly run over and fall  to its death.

We cannot purge ourselves of mean thoughts, unkind acts, or cruel intentions by running mindlessly into a desert.   

The “Azazel” goat is sent into the desert to meet an uncertain destiny. It can be assumed that the “Azazel” goat dies in this barren wasteland. This is an unfair assumption. The goat’s fate remains forever unknown.  

Symbolically, this ritual represents the purging of human transgressions, allowing for redemption. Practically, it describes a process to overcome internal negativity which can evoke undesirable consequences, causing harm to others.

The desert is not a place of death. It is a place where, under some of the harshest dry land environments, life finds ways of being born and surviving. It is a place of rebirth. Life therein has made the arid desert a sanctuary in which to thrive.

Many biblical prophets traveled into the desert, seeking spiritual enlightenment. Moses was one. He journeyed through the desert after fleeing a murder charge in Egypt. He sought to discover his destiny. Struggling to survive in the desert, Moses realized his true nature, recasting his mind and emotions. He and others experienced renewal in this unfamiliar environment. They acquired new understanding, greater strength, and clear-minded hope. Besides being in a barren environment, Moses and others released extraneous thoughts and feelings, opening themselves to acceptance and clarification.

There is an abundance of animal life in these parched surroundings. In the most desolate of hot places, life finds a way. Heat is not nearly the problem for survival that cold is. Far more human lives are lost in cold climates than in hot. The coldest areas on this planet have the fewest life forms. 

The desert is a suboptimal environment for a goat. That does not mean the animal cannot discover a way to continue living. It can find the means for nutrition, safety, and even propagation. For that is the nature of the desert: to provide enough for life to take hold and flourish.

The goat released to the desert is immediately faced with either struggling to survive – or perish. Indeed, life for everyone is about choosing to meet the challenges, or succumbing to mediocrity (or, at worst, failure). The desert will provide if the goat makes the effort.

Similarly, we struggle to make our lives meaningful and valuable. We work to accomplish our dreams and aspirations. To grow and better ourselves. To achieve. The world is a desert of uncertainty and challenge from the beginning. A person leaves the protective shelters of birth, finding a path in life.

A human begins life with a focus on its needs. A person ventures into the world, seeking a home, a vocation, and a purpose. Life becomes about developing the skills to survival and thrive. A point is reached when it becomes necessary to search for meaning and truth.

Barriers to these and other objectives stand before us. Like the goat in the hostile desert, we must build up strength and resistance.  We can use the environment to our advantage.

Every person should use his or her learning and ingenuity to find direction. We have imagination, education, and creativity to apply. We have the ability and drive to define a quest and be successful.

The desert metaphor teaches that resources may not be obvious. A desert may seem to be depleted and hopeless, but it can open one’s eyes to hidden potential. This wilderness encourages the seeker to find an inner strength and peace without distractions. A new road is found, providing answers.

Meaning in life springs from the commandment to be “Holy, as I, The Lord, your God, am Holy.” We live in a spiritual desert by nature of this being a material universe. Our senses are filled with and entranced by the magic of what we perceive. Life on earth utilizes these tools. We have other tools to achieve very different objectives.

To find meaning, it is imperative to explore the Spiritual Realm. Arousing and nurturing our Divine nature combats the tendency to sin. Desire, emotion, and greed are natural by-products of mortal life. These urges are rewards and curses, opposite concepts which move in harmony. They do not exist in the universe of a 100% spiritual Deity.

In the purity of the desert, we can redirect from these compulsions, permitting Holiness to guide our lives.

The glimpses we can have of this other universe reveals that mortal life does have meaning.

To reach across the divide to the Heavenly Realm, we meditate, an art which divorces attention away from the senses. This skill, when practiced, quiets the distractions and desires of the material world. Prayer, concentration exercises, and other techniques help the mind attain spiritual power. Living a life of mental focusing enhances the ability to embrace the Eternal.

The Torah commands certain tasks that will help us to be Holy. Being Holy (that is: being different like God is different or being more spiritual and less material) is the prime commandment. Awakening and nurturing our inherent spiritual nature is the path to Holiness. Goodness and Kindness are laudable and necessary for living on Earth, but understanding these terms is a shifting platform.

Being a good person depends upon the century, the society, and the environment. It is not an absolute. Many people think they know what being a good person is. Many others would have a different idea. This concept is not new to the challenging world we live in today.

Being Holy, realizing the Divine inclination within each of us, is a state of being one with truth. Truth is an objective reality, with no moral aspect to it. It is eternal and infinite. Holiness is spiritual. It excludes all that is material.

Mortal humans have an eternal soul that can facilitate connecting with the Divine. The objective is to cast off our propensity to transgress while building an aptitude to transcend.     

Like the goat heading to Azazel, each of us carries sins – committed or conceived – into the desert of our lives. There we can free  ourselves from flaws, impieties, impurities, mistakes, and faults. We can examine the guilt associated with sin. The uncertain landscape into which we hurry will challenge us to find ways to right our wrongs and straighten our paths. Struggling to create and maintain a desert within the mind and emotions opens the door to atonement and redemption.

Acceptance of current reality is the prerequisite of change and growth.

Accidental errors, intentional offenses, and thoughtless insults can be sins. The goat heading towards Azazel carries our crimes or vices (sins) into a desert.

Maybe.

It really doesn’t work that way, especially for conscientious human beings. WE have to do the work. For that, WE have to [figuratively] run headlong into the desert towards a cliff. Within this context and commotion lies the opportunity to observe and refine the mind and the soul. Change is difficult. The explosiveness and stimulations of the material existence complicates this effort.

The desert is a place to purge negative thoughts and distracting emotions. One of the greatest and most difficult tasks we face in life is to mature beyond the simple drives which governed our formative years. To thrive in life, we must unburden ourselves of our errors in judgement by confronting them, learning from the experience, seeking forgiveness, and adjusting our attitudes and behavior.

Each person’s unique future is a desert landscape of opportunity. Engaging in a lifestyle of healthy habits, fostering positive mental attitudes, and awakening spiritual strengths are important to traverse this desert.  Purifying ourselves is a process of mastering emotions and fear, while building hope.

We each have innate human potential to achieve these goals. The future is not determined. The goat faces a frightening environment. Unlike the goat, we have our humanity to carry the day.