A little over six months ago, after Succos had finished and people heard about the tragic events that took place on Simchas Torah (7th October), events that many people said Klal Yisroel haven’t seen or heard since the Holocaust. Many people commented that if only we could have another Yom Kippur, and then we would daven and do teshuvah more seriously. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and straight after Succos there was no second Yom Kippur. There was a long six-month winter zeman, but no Yom Kippur, there were no second chances.
Although not so common, this year, immediately following Pesach, we have Yom Kippur, this year, the weekly parsha immediately following Pesach is parshas Achrei Mos, the parsha which talks all about the avodah of Yom Kippur. It is well known that the parshiyos that fall out during various times of the year, are not random. It is carefully orchestrated by the One above, that particular parshiyos fall out at particular times. It is not by chance, that this year immediately following Pesach we have the parsha of Yom Kippur. Therefore, although after Succos we never had the opportunity to have another Yom Kippur, after Pesach this year we do. The million-dollar question is, however, what lesson should we take from this, and what should we do about it?
One of the central parts of the Yom Kippur avodah [service] is the shnei seirim, the two goats. The pasuk in this week’s parsha teaches: ומאת עדת בני ישראל יקח שני שעירי עזים לחטאת – “And from Bnei Yisroel you shall take two male goats as a sin offering” (Vayikra 16:5). The Mishnah in Yoma states that the two should be identical in terms of color, height and value and that they should be purchased simultaneously.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch expounds on this idea: Let’s imagine the thoughts of these two identical seirim [goats]. They are brought to the Kohen Gadol and, as they stand shoulder to shoulder, lots are drawn. One is designated to be la’Hashem - brought as a korbon [sacrifice]. The other, destined la’Azazel - to be thrown off a cliff.
At this point their paths diverge. As the seir la’Azazel remains standing alive, the seir la’Hashem is slaughtered and the blood is collected in a vessel. That vessel is then brought to the holiest place in the world, the Kodesh HaKodoshim, where the blood is sprinkled between the poles of the aron [the ark], on the paroches [the separating curtain between the Kodesh and the Kodesh HaKodoshim] and on the mizbe’ach hazahav [the golden altar]. The remainder of the seir is burnt outside of the machaneh [camp]
“Whew!!!! Did you see that?!?! Close call!!! That could have been my neck! My lucky day that I didn’t draw his lot! 50-50 chance... Poor guy... I had taken a bit of a liking to him...”
The Kohen Gadol approaches the seir la’Azazel, places his hands on its head and confesses the sins of the nation. It is then led out of the Beis HaMikdosh toward the mountains outside of Yerusholayim...
“Ahhhh... boy, am I glad to be out of that place! Now I can relax and take a deep breath! Nothing like the country air! I’m glad they didn’t carry me out the way they carried out my buddy! Beautiful scenery! This is the life!”
It is then brought to the edge of a high cliff...
“What a panoramic view! Incredible, absolutely incredible! Talk about a Kodak moment!”
... turned around with its back to the cliff...
“Oh, I get it, you want a shot with the mountain in the background...tell me when... say cheese...”
... and pushed off the mountain!
We must learn from the shnei seirim, two goats, a very important lesson. In life, we start out very similar to our peers, however, as time goes on, we have paths to choose and decisions to make. Often one path seems wrought with sacrifice and pain - the other blissful and serene.
We’re often plagued with the questions: why give up pleasures? why restrain ourselves? why not get all that we can out of life? Why not take the easy option?
We see from the shnei seirim however, that it’s the struggles and sacrifices in life which reveal and build our strengths as individuals. The easy path is rarely the fulfilling one. That which seems so tempting and easy is often catastrophic. When things are easy, we don’t end up in the Kodesh HaKodoshim, we end up getting push off a cliff going la’Azazel.
Divrei Torah for the Shabbos Table
Pesach is all about freedom, Pesach is zeman charuseinu, after going through a Pesach we are supposed to feel free. However, as it is with all good things in life, there is a big catch, and being free comes with a great ruchniusdike sakonah [spiritual danger].
R’ Chaim Kaufman relates a fascinating story: A certain Gerrer chosid survived the terrible trials of the holocaust but was heard to cry out on his release from the camps, פתח לנו שער בעת נעילת שער - “Open for us the gate at the time the gate is closing”. He meant that during the years of suffering in the concentration camps he felt a special closeness to Hashem but now that he was being freed to resume a normal life who could know if the same connection would remain. Therefore, he cried out that at this moment the gate to Hashem should remain open for him.
Although hopefully we have come out of Pesach feeling free, we have to realize that there is a great danger involved. We have to learn from the shnei seirim, which are such a fundamental part of the Yom Kippur avodah, that what one may picture as being the ultimate freedom is the exact opposite, and that what one may picture as being anything but freedom, is actually a korbon la’Hashem which is fitting to be offered up in the Kodesh HaKodoshim.
To hammer home this point, we will speak just one example, although I am sure there are many more you can think of. There may be a number of bochurim sitting in yeshiva on a hot, pleasant, summers day. One of the bochurim may think to himself that it’s such a beautiful day, I can’t spend all day learning, I need to go to the sea-side. I will learn in the morning, and in the afternoon, I simply must go to the sea-side. He discusses this idea with a few of his friends, and they decide they will join him. However, one bochur strongly disagrees and says to his friend, “It’s the middle of zeman, I refuse to come”. The afternoon comes, and the group of friends go off to the sea-side, and this one bochur goes to afternoon seder. The group of bochurim all get on their bikes and go off to the sea-side, and understandably they feel like the freest people in the world. In the meantime, the bochur who managed to succumb to peer pressure goes off to learn, and shteigs away. The bochurim who went out for the day feel like the freest people in the world, whereas the bochur who goes to learn feels far from being free. However, we know he is truly free, the bochur that spent all day learning is free. So, although, the bochurim who went off to the sea-side feel free, what they did is far from it, and what they did is actually le’Azazel.
However, the bochur who stayed strong and didn’t succumb to peer pressure is actually free and he is like the soir le’Hashem and is fit for the Kodesh HaKodoshim.
So, let’s make sure to take this wonderful opportunity of Pesach being immediately followed by Yom Kippur, and learn from the shnei seirim what real freedom is, and to make sure to utilize our freedom in the best way possible. If we do this, iy’H the tragic events which all started on Simchas Torah will quickly be behind us, and we will merit the coming of Moshiach speedily in our days.
There is another important lesson which we must take from this rare event of Pesach being followed immediately by Yom Kippur (Achrei Mos).
In Parshas Vayikra we learnt about the korban mincha. The korban mincha is made from flour and oil and although it is baked, it is not allowed to become leavened (Vayikra 2:11). Neither leavening agents (se’or) nor sweeteners (devash) may be added.
Rabbeinu Bechaye cites two reasons for the prohibition of adding chometz to a korbon. His second explanation is that a korbon is meant to achieve atonement. Were it not for a person’s yetzer horah [evil inclination], the person would never sin and there would be no need for korbonos. Rabbeinu Bechaye refers to the yetzer horah by the term “meisis and madiach” – meaning the enticer and corrupter. Leaven (se’or) and sweeteners (devash) represent man’s yetzer horah. Chometz is symbolic of the yetzer horah; therefore, the offering brought to atone for sin must be free of chometz.
Rabbeinu Bechaye then links this idea with the Rabbinic teaching concerning the prohibition against possessing chometz on Pesach. The chometz prohibition is exceptionally severe – one who eats it is deserving of kores and one is not even allowed to own chometz. Our Rabbis teach that this prohibition symbolizes the fact that we must go to great lengths to remove the yetzer horah from our hearts.
In his work Kad HaKemach, Rabbeinu Bechaye elaborates that the prohibition of (a) not seeing chometz (ba’al yero’eh) and (b) the prohibition of having chometz found in our possession (ba’al yimatzei) correspond with the idea that the yetzer horah should not be manifest (a) through our actions and (b) through our thoughts. Just as we are commanded to nullify chometz in our hearts, so too, we are commanded to nullify the yetzer horah.
Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl cites the tefillah of the Amora Rav Alexandri (Berachos 17a), following his recital of Shemoneh Esrei, as a source for linking chometz to the yetzer horah: “It is revealed and known to You that our wish is to do Your desire, and what stops us? The leavening agent in the bread (se’or she’bisa) and foreign domination (shibud malchiyus).” Rashi there equates “se’or she’bisa” with the yetzer horah.
Rav Nebenzahl explains this metaphor. When yeast is added to the other ingredients in a challah recipe, the small amount of dough in the mixing bowl suddenly rises to filling the entire bowl and perhaps even overflowing. How does this happen? It is not magic. It is the effect of carbon dioxide. The CO2 gas created by the mixture of flour, water, and the leavening agent makes the dough rise. If a person sticks his finger in the middle of the dough after it rises, the dough plops down, falling flat.
This is why the “se’or” is like the “yetzer horah”. The “yetzer horah” appears to us as an enormous power of huge dimensions. But in reality, it is all air. If we puncture it, it will collapse. The “yetzer horah” is an illusion. We all have our “yetzer horah’s” – sometimes for money, sometimes for honor, sometimes for women. But it is an allusion. Passion and physicality is always greater in the abstract than it is in reality. Expectation and anticipation always exceed the real thing when it comes to physical matters. We think the “yetzer horah” is unconquerable, but most of it is fluff. For this reason, the evil inclination is compared to the leavening agent.
Rav Nebenzahl adds the following profound insight: When Yaakov fled with his wives and family from his father-in-law, Rochel stole Lavan’s “teraphim” [idols], placed them in her camel’s saddlebag and sat upon them to hide them from her father. The Ibn Ezra and many others, based on the Zohar, explain that the “teraphim” had certain magical powers based on the “powers of impurity” in the world. Lavan was a sorcerer and used these “teraphim” to ascertain information about the future. The Zohar states that Rochel feared that Lavan would use these “teraphim” to locate Yaakov and was consequently trying to hide them from him.
The Zohar asks: If this was Rochel’s motive why did she not hide the “teraphim” or throw them in the river? Why did she take them with her? The Zohar answers that as long as the “teraphim” were only hidden, they would have still worked and Lavan would have used them to locate Yaakov via his power of divination. It was only by sitting on the “teraphim” that their power was deactivated. When a person demonstrates total disdain for idols, their power is in fact nullified. Avodah zorah only has power when one attributes power to it. If one treats avodah zorah with disdain, it loses its power.
Rav Nebenzahl points out that there are only two items in all of halachah where the concept of bitul [mental nullification] applies – chometz and avodah zorah. A Jew’s declaration that chometz is nullified like the dust of the earth renders it halachically as non-chometz and equivalent to the dust of the earth. Likewise, a Gentile’s nullification and rejection of his idol, renders it to be no longer avodah zorah from a halachic perspective.
Chometz is all about the yetzer horah, which is all CO2 – exploding gases. The yetzer horah is a bunch of hot air. It has power because we give it power. The way to disable its power is to nullify it. This is what we are supposed to do on Pesach. Likewise, the way to get rid of avodah zorah is to demonstrate that it is meaningless. Then it will lose its power.
This is why se’or is equated with the yetzer horah. It looks big and impressive and powerful but all a person needs to do is stick a finger in the dough and it deflates. This is the lesson of bitul chometz. Treat the yetzer horah as what it really is and its power will evaporate.
Although this lesson is of vital importance all year round, and in the times of the Beis HaMikdosh they did in fact have this lesson all year round, as every time a korban mincha was offered up without any se’or a person was taught this lesson, it’s of particular importance when it comes to Pesach. Many ask that if chometz represents the yetzer horah, why don’t we avoid it all year round? I think the best way to answer this is with the following parable:
The excitement was in the air - a new baby was born to the Cohen family. The family hung up signs and banners and blew up balloons in anticipation of the new arrival. Finally, Mummy arrived home from the hospital with a precious new baby in her arms. The baby began to cry and Mummy gave him a pacifier. A moment later the baby began crying again and the pacifier fell to the ground. Yitzy, feeling like a big brother, picked it up and wanted to give it to the baby, Mummy quickly stopped him and said that it must first be sterilized. She explained that when a pacifier, bottle, or anything that enters a baby's mouth falls to the floor or any other surface, it picks up germs. If we do not clean it or sterilize it, it can be harmful to the baby.
Several months later Yitzy was playing with the baby (now called Avi) and screams in shock as he sees him pick a cookie from the floor and put it into his mouth. He runs to his Mummy, informing her of the “dangerous sight” he had just seen. Mummy sat Yitzy down and explained to him that when a baby is born, everything is very new, sensitive, and delicate. Its birth may require a team of doctors and nurses, and its life is somewhat in danger. Once it is born, it needs excessive care and special protection, as it is delicate and has a very weak immune system. Even the slightest germs can be very dangerous to it. This is why we make sure everything that comes close to a baby is one hundred present sterile. A few months later, as it progresses from its birth and becomes stronger it does not require the same care. At this stage, Mummy concluded, even if he eats a cookie from the floor nothing untoward will occur.
Pesach is a time when we are born as a new people. During a birth, everything must be sterile. Even one germ can be dangerous, or even fatal. For this reason, even a crumb of chometz is forbidden. For a full week after the birth of a nation - “Ba’al yero’eh u’ba’al yimatzei” – keep everything absolutely sterile! However, after we have been born and become a bit stronger, we no longer have to be as careful as we were at the beginning.
Normally, the period of the Yom Tov Pesach is enough, and after Pesach we can then start eating chometz again, and we will have learnt how to be vigilant from the yetzer horah. However, this year, immediately after Pesach we will have another reminder of the how dangerous the yetzer horah can be. On the Shabbos following Pesach, when we sit down to eat our geshmakeh puffed up challos made with yeast (the yetzer horah). We will read Parshas Achrei Mos, the parsha which discusses the avodah of Yom Kippur, and what the Kohen did to help Klal Yisroel receive atonement, and give them a chance to start a clean slate and put their terrible aveiros caused by their yetzer horah behind them.
So, although after Succos there was no option of repeating Yom Kippur, after Pesach we do in fact have a Yom Kippur. Therefore, this week when munching into our yummy geshmakeh challlos, we must remember the lessons of Pesach. We must remember how the yetzer horah likes to inflate things and make them much more tempting than they really are. We must remember that although the seir la’Azazel walking through the country side and hill tops felt free, look where he ended up. And now that we have gone through Pesach and are truly free, we must ignore the yetzer horah, and do what free people truly do. We are now heading into the summer, a time where the yetzer horah works overtime to try and inflate everything. However, now that we have experienced a Pesach coupled with a Yom Kippur, may we merit to make the correct decisions and have a summer full of Torah and mitzvos, and only good news. May we merit the coming of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikodsh speedily in our days.
