{"id":45372,"date":"2018-12-09T08:36:44","date_gmt":"2018-12-09T06:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=45372"},"modified":"2022-07-03T17:54:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-03T14:54:27","slug":"the-transmission-of-sin-and-holiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-transmission-of-sin-and-holiness\/","title":{"rendered":"The Transmission of Sin And Holiness"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[480,387,410,761],"acf":{"old_id":"45372","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":45368,"related_cahpter":"106","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"What do scapegoat and rabbis have in common? (It\u2019s not what you might think\u2026)","content":"

The word \u201cscapegoat\u201d first appeared in its modern usage in 1824, evolved from Tyndale\u2019s coining of the term in 1530, \u201cthe goat sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement, symbolic bearer of the sins of the people.\u201d Tyndale was, of course, translating from a much older source: Leviticus 16:<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on the head of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated man (16:21).<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the scapegoat, Aaron annually purges the Israelite community of its collective sin. More precisely, Aaron lays his hands – <\/span>v\u2019samach Aharon<\/span><\/em> – on the head of the goat and channels the Israelites\u2019 collective sin onto it, thus exploiting the contagious nature of impurity towards pure ends. <\/span><\/p>\n

The same verb is used in the first Jewish leadership transition, from Moses to Joshua: \u201cHe laid his hands – <\/span>vayismach et yadav<\/span><\/em> – upon him and commissioned him\u2014as the LORD had spoken through Moses\u201d (Numbers 27:23).<\/span><\/p>\n

This model and terminology are still used in modern rabbinical ordination (<\/span>smicha<\/span><\/em>), placing the caretakers of our community in a legacy of divine commission. This legacy is further emphasized in the opening line of Pirke Avot: \u201cMoses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua and Joshua to the Elders, and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Transmission of Torah preserves a bit of the holiness given at Sinai.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does it mean that both sin and holiness can be transmitted? That the transmission itself is a holy act. In the verses immediately following the scapegoat ritual, Aaron must carefully remove his clothes, bathe in water, and offer a burnt sacrifice. By doing so, he demarcates and crosses the boundary between the sacred <\/span>smicha<\/span><\/em> and the mundane. <\/span><\/p>\n

As teachers of Torah, transmitters of the holiness of our tradition, may we also take steps to recognize and protect the holiness of this work.<\/span><\/p>\n

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