יומא 67 — Soncino English Talmud

¹[A DISTANCE OF] NINETY RIS, SEVEN AND A HALF OF WHICH MAKE A MIL. AT EVERY BOOTH THEY WOULD SAY TO HIM: HERE IS FOOD AND HERE IS WATER. THEY WENT WITH HIM FROM BOOTH TO BOOTH, EXCEPT THE LAST ONE. FOR HE WOULD NOT GO WITH HIM UP TO THE ZOK, BUT STAND FROM AFAR, AND BEHOLD WHAT HE WAS DOING. WHAT DID HE DO? HE DIVIDED THE THREAD OF CRIMSON WOOL, AND TIED ONE HALF TO THE ROCK, THE OTHER HALF BETWEEN ITS HORNS, AND PUSHED IT FROM BEHIND. AND IT WENT ROLLING DOWN AND BEFORE IT HAD REACHED HALF ITS WAY DOWN HILL IT WAS DASHED TO PIECES. HE CAME BACK AND SAT DOWN UNDER THE LAST BOOTH UNTIL IT GREW DARK. AND FROM WHEN ON DOES IT RENDER HIS GARMENTS UNCLEAN? FROM THE MOMENT HE HAS GONE OUTSIDE THE WALL OF JERUSALEM. R. SIMEON SAYS: FROM THE MOMENT HE PUSHES IT INTO THE ZOK. GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: There were ten booths and twelve mils [distance] — this is the view of R. Meir. R. Judah says Nine booths and ten mils; R. Jose says: Five booths and ten mils. And they are all available by means of an ‘erub. R. Jose said: My son Eliezer suggested to me: As long as I have an ‘erub, two booths would do even for ten mils. With whose view will agree what was taught: But not from the last booth,for nobody would go with him up to the Zok, but standing afar, would behold what he was doing? According to whom [is this]? According to R. Meir. AT EVERY BOOTH THEY WOULD SAY TO HIM: HERE IS FOOD AND WATER: A Tanna taught: Never did any one [who carried the goat away] find it necessary to use it, but [the reason of this provision is because] you cannot compare one who has bread in his basket with one who has no bread in his basket. WHAT DID HE DO? HE DIVIDED THE THREAD OF CRIMSON WOOL: But let him tie the whole [thread] to the rock? — Since it is his duty [to complete his work with] the he-goat, perhaps the thread might become fast white, and he would be satisfied. But let him tie the whole thread between its horns? — At times its head [in falling] is bent and he would not pay attention. Our Rabbis taught: In the beginning they would tie the thread of crimson wool on the entrance of the Ulam without: if it became white they rejoiced; if it did not become white, they were sad and ashamed. Thereupon they arranged to tie it to the entrance of the Ulam within. But they were still peeping through and if it became white, they rejoiced, whereas, if it did not become white, they grew sad and ashamed. Thereupon they arranged to tie one half to the rock and the other half between its horns. R. Nahum b. Papa said in the name of R. Eleazar ha-Kappar: Originally they used to tie the thread of crimson wool to the entrance of the Ulam within, and as soon as the he-goat reached the wilderness, it turned white. Then they knew that the commandment concerning it had been fulfilled, as it is said: If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white wool. BEFORE IT HAD REACHED HALF ITS WAY DOWN HILL: The question was raised: As to those limbs [pieces] are they permitted for general use? Rab and Samuel are in dispute on this point, one saying: They are permitted, the other they are forbidden. The one who holds they are permitted [argues thus]:^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ

^ᵃnote:[So that ninety ris is the equivalent of twelve mils.]
^ᵇnote:I.e., the one who accompanied him to the last booth, the one before the Zok.
^ᶜnote:[Because according to calculation there was a distance of two mils between the last booth and the Zok which was beyond the walking limits of the Sabbath or Festivals.]
^ᵈnote:V. Lev. XVI, 26.
^ᵉnote:Cf. p. 312, n. 6.
^ᶠnote:[V. n. 1. This allowed for one mil(=2000 cubits) the permissible walking distance between one booth and another and two mils from the last booth to the Zok].
^ᵍnote:This ‘erub signified the transferring of one's abode to the place where certain foods were deposited, with the consequence that his movements on the Sabbath would be assumed to start from that abode and were permitted within 2000 cubits in every direction.
^ʰnote:Suppose some Jerusalemites deposited on the eve of the Day of Atonement some eatables at the end of the 2000 cubits which are the legal maximum for walking out of the city on the Sabbath. Then they are permitted to accompany the man appointed to take away the scapegoat a distance of 2000 more cubits (the maximum as from the present fictitious abode). The guard of other booths eight and four mils off Jerusalem could do the same, in every direction. Now one may go 2000 cubits with him from Jerusalem, where guards from the first booth join him up to the second and so on, until his destination is reached.
^ⁱnote:According to R. Jose and R.’Judah even the last reaches the Zok.
^ʲnote:V. supra 18b.
^ᵏnote:The craving of him who lacks the opportunity to gratify it is much more intense then the craving of him who has such opportunity.
^ˡnote:If the thread should turn white suddenly before the goat had yet been hurled down, the appointed man might be so happy with the sign of forgiveness obtained as to neglect going through with the prescribed ceremony of pushing the he-goat downward, thus leaving the command unfulfilled.
^ᵐnote:To the change in colour, since the thread would be out of his sight.
^ⁿnote:V. R.H. 31b.
^ᵒnote:The Hall leading to the interior of the Temple.
^ᵖnote:Isa. I, 18.
^ᵠnote:I.e., may they e.g., be sold so that the profit therefrom be enjoyed. Hana'ah (general use) stands for any enjoyment except akilah, eating for human consumption, therefore using it for profit, as a gift, etc.

²For it is written: ‘in the wilderness’; the one who holds they are forbidden [argues]: Because Scripture says: cut off. But as for him who considers them forbidden, for what purpose does he use the word ‘wilderness’? He needs it in accord with what was taught: ‘Into the wilderness’, ‘to the wilderness’, ‘in the wilderness’, that means to include Nob, Gibeon, and Shiloh and the Permanent House. And what does the other [teacher] do with ‘cut off’? — He needs it, in accord with what was taught: Gezerah,’ [the term] ‘gezerah’ means something that is ‘cut off’; another explanation: Gezerah means something that goes to pieces as it goes down; another interpretation: ‘gezerah’ — perhaps you might say this is a vain thing? Therefore the text reads: I am the Lord, I have decreed it and you are not permitted to criticize it. Raba said: The view of him who says they are permitted is more reasonable, for the Torah did not say ‘Send away’! to create [possibility of] offence. Our Rabbis taught: Azazel — it should be hard and rough. One might have assumed that it is to be in inhabited land, therefore the text reads: ‘In the wilderness’. But whence do we know that it [is to be in] a Zok? — Therefore the text reads: ‘Cut off’. Another [Baraitha] taught: Azazel, i.e., the hardest of mountains, thus also does it say: And the mighty [ele] of the land he took away. The School of R. Ishmael taught: Azazel — [it was so called] because it obtains atonement for the affair of Uza and Aza'el.Our Rabbis taught: Mine ordinances shall ye do, i.e., such commandments which, if they were not written [in Scripture], they should by right have been written and these are they: [the laws concerning] idolatry [star-worship], immorality and bloodshed, robbery and blasphemy. And My statutes shall ye keep, i.e., such commandments to which Satan objects, they are [those relating to] the putting on of sha'atnez, the halizah [performed] by a sister-in-law, the purification of the leper, and the he-goat-to-be-sent-away. And perhaps you might think these are vain things, therefore Scripture says: I am the Lord, i.e., I, the Lord have made it a statute and you have no right to criticize it. FROM WHEN ON DOES IT RENDER HIS GARMENTS UNCLEAN? Our Rabbis taught: Only he who is to take the goat away renders his garments unclean, but he who sends the appointed man away does not render his garments unclean. One might have assumed that [he does so] as soon as he goes forth outside from the wall of the Temple court, therefore the text reads: He that letteth go. If [you derive from] ‘he that letteth go’ [one might infer that] only when he reaches Zok, therefore the text reads: ‘And he that letteth go’. How then is it? R. Judah says: As soon as he goes out of the walls of Jerusalem. R. Jose says: Azazel and wash [are written in close proximity] i.e., only when he reaches the Zok. R. Simeon says: And he that letteth go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes, i.e., he flings it down headlong and his garments become then unclean. MISHNAH. HE [THE HIGH PRIEST] CAME TO THE BULLOCK AND THE HE-GOAT THAT WERE TO BE BURNT, HE CUT THEM OPEN AND TOOK OUT THE SACRIFICIAL PORTIONS AND PUT THEM ON A TRAY, AND BURNT THEM UPON THE ALTAR. HE TWISTED THEM [THE BEASTS] AROUND CARRYING POLES AND BROUGHT THEM OUT TO THE PLACE OF BURNING. FROM WHAT TIME DO THEY RENDER GARMENTS UNCLEAN? AFTER THEY HAVE GONE OUTSIDE THE WALL OF THE TEMPLE COURT. R. SIMEON SAYS: FROM THE MOMENT THE FIRE HAS TAKEN HOLD OF MOST OF THEM. GEMARA. And he burnt them up? How could that thought arise in you? — Rather say: To burn them [later] on the altar. HE TWISTED THEM AROUND CARRYING POLES: R. Johanan said: So in the form of a net-work. — A Tanna taught: He did not cut them up as one cuts up the flesh of a burnt-offering, but [he left] the skin on the flesh. Whence do we know this? Because It was taught: Rabbi said: It is said here: skin . . . flesh . . . and dung and it is said there: skin . . . flesh . . . and dung26^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ

^ʳnote:Lev. XVI, 22. This phrase is superfluous and comes to teach that just as the wilderness belongs to all so are the broken limbs of the he-goat it contains free for the use of all.
^ˢnote:Ibid. i.e., cut off from use, forbidden.
^ᵗnote:Ibid. vv. 10, 21, 22.
^ᵘnote:I.e., The Jerusalem Temple. The law applies to all these places.
^ᵛnote:The Hebrew for the ‘cut off’.
^ʷnote:I.e., something that rises steep, and not in a slope.
^ˣnote:The root meaning of the word is: cut off, guard. Thus: to institute a preventive measure, to enact a prohibition, to decree. All these root-meanings are here brought into play: It is ‘cut off’, hence descending precipitately. — It is cut, ‘split’, hence dashed in pieces. — It is a decree, divine, hence no criticism is allowed.
^ʸnote:It would be an offence for an unwary man who found them to make use of these animals, and the Torah would place no such stumbling-block in the way of the average person. Hence the assumption that the members of the goat's body are free to be used.
^ᶻnote:Az and el mean strong, irresistible, impudent.
^ᵃᵃnote:Zok means a mountain peak; it may be the special name of the mountain whence the he-goat was flung down.
^ᵃᵇnote:V. Supra p. 315, n. 7.
^ᵃᶜnote:Ezek. XVII, 13.
^ᵃᵈnote:This is a reference to the legend of fallen angels, based partly on Gen. VI, 4 and also on foreign lore. V. Jung, L. ‘Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan literature’.
^ᵃᵉnote:Lev. XVIII, 4.
^ᵃᶠnote:A web of wool and linen, v. Deut. XXII, 11. All the laws mentioned in this group cannot be explained rationally; they are to be taken on faith, as the decree of God.
^ᵃᵍnote:The ceremony of taking off the brother-in-law's shoe, v. Deut. XXV, 5ff.
^ᵃʰnote:I.e.,those who accompany him.
^ᵃⁱnote:Lev. XVI, 26.
^ᵃʲnote:[This argument is not clear. v. Rashi. Tosef. (Yoma III) reads: One might have assumed as soon as he goes forth outside the wall of the Temple court, therefore the text reads: ‘For Azazel shall wash his clothes’. If ‘for Azazel shall wash his clothes’, I might [infer] only when he reaches Zok etc.]
^ᵃᵏnote:Ibid. 27: And they shall burn in the fire their skin, and their flesh.
^ᵃˡnote:Lev. IV, 8-10.
^ᵃᵐnote:V. Lev. XVI, 28.
^ᵃⁿnote:That took place much later.
^ᵃᵒnote:Zeb. 50a.
^ᵃᵖnote:Lev. XVI, 27.
^ᵃᵠnote:With reference to the bullock brought by an anointed priest for a sin-offering. Ibid. IV, 11.