Hello Everybody,
Just got back from a week in Israel where I was pillaging villages, killing women, running over scared children with tanks, beating pregnant women, and not wearing a helmet as a rode my bicycle, just like every good Israeli soldier was doing. I hope your week has been just as interesting. Once again, I'm considering putting together the 1st Illinois Volunteer regiment to destroy my arch-nemesis, UC-Berkeley. Where the Palestinian supporters (i.e. EVERY POT-SMOKING, DOPED OUT, LONG-HAIRED, NO-BRAINED, YUGO-OWNING, I DON'T BELIEVE IN SHOWERING, HIPPY STUDENT, you like the description Mr. Lyons?) have beaten Jews simply for having a connection with Israel. Ah yes, UC-Berkeley, the hotbed of "open-mindedness". Okay, on to Torah!
"One lot for Hashem and one lot for Azazel" (16:8)
As we ALL know, during the Yom Kippur service, the Kohen Gadol would bring forth (I like that saying) two goats to the Beis Hamikdash, and a little lottery would be played. One goat would be offered on the Altar in the Beis Hamikdash, while the other one would "bear the sins" of Israel, and be chucked off a cliff (called Azazel) somewhere out in the desert. Naturally the person who would take this goat to Azazel would be greeted by hippy students from UC-Berkeley who would protest, throw eggs, and destroy local businesses, for harming the poor defenseless creature, for the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the environment, and for the Israeli massacres and occupation of the West Bank against the poor defenseless Palestinians.... It's stated in the Gemara, that one of the miracles that occurred during the time of the Beis Hamikdash, was that every year, a giant bolt of lightening would strike the protestors dead. Ahhh...the good old days.... anyways...where was I? Oh yes...
Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein uses these two goats as a metaphor for two people who, at first glance, seem to be the same. But as time goes on, they slowly turn to different paths. This is similar to your everyday Amtrak station. All the rails leading out of the station, at first head out in the same direction. Only after a while does each rail slowly bend towards its destination. This was seen in the case of Yaakov and Eisav. Until they grew up, both boys were identical, physically and spiritually. Only when "the boys grew up", Eisav slowly started to follow his destiny and Yaakov would follow his own.
Jewish assimilation began in a similar manner. There were religious people who sought to reform Judaism. That you can be a good citizen of your host country, do everything they do, AND be a good Jew...with a few changes to halacha of course. They started on the same path as Torah Judaism, but made small changes in Torah, to the point it led them towards a completely different destination. Well...we are currently witnessing the largest holocaust in Jewish history take place, with inter-marriage at an all-time high, with no slowing down.
So, what does any of this have to do with us? Chances are, if you're on this list, you're probably not looking to intermarry, since, why the heck would you want to listen to a right-wing, black-hatted fanatic like me?
The lesson of these two goats are like this. Both are identical at first, but have completely different destinies. One of them carries sins, while the other does not. One goat represents the end of a person's life when he lives a Torah life, while the other represents his fate if he does not. We must understand that the Torah prescribed a life style that can lead us to a life with no sin (if we work on it), yet society in general does not. Many great Jewish leaders today are warning us, that it is important for everybody to work on their independence from the material physical world, now more than ever. We must look in our lives and ask, "is this what Hashem wants from me? Will this improve my relationship with Him?” If the answer is no, maybe we should try to change. Maybe we need to start learning more, davening better, working on our inter-personal relationships, etc...instead of just going out to the bars and "having a good time". By taking small steps in the right direction, we can slowly shift out destination towards Hashem. It will be these things that will make a difference in a person's destiny, whether he will leave this world through the Beis Hamikdash or through Azazel. Have a great Shabbos!