RAV KOOK ON Parshat Achrei Mot PART 1

Translated and abridged by Rabbi Chanan Morrison Parshat Achrei Mot Perhaps the most unusual of all the Temple services was the Yom Kippur ceremony of Azazel, "the scapegoat", sending off a goat into the wilderness, symbolically carrying away the sins of Israel. No other Temple offering was treated in such a fashion. Even more surprising, immediately after describing the Yom Kippur service, the Torah warns, "And they will stop sacrificing to the demons who tempt them" (Lev. 17:7). The text implies that the goat sent to Azazel is the sole exception to this rule, in apparent contradiction to the fundamental principles of the Temple service. Was this unusual ritual a 'sacrifice to the demons'?