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In his commentary on Vayikra 16: 10<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><b><i>But the he-goat that was
designated by lot “for Azazel” shall be left standing alive before
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>God,
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>to effect atonement upon
it, to send it away, as Azazel’s, into the wilderness.<br><br>
</i></b>RSRH gives deep insights into the nature of man. In part of his
commentary he writes:<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>Be “Adam”; be a likeness of
Me (cf. Commentary,
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Bereshis
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>1:26); be<br>
a God in miniature, in and over the little world that I have assigned
to<br>
you along with your physical frame. I have granted you freedom of My<br>
freedom; and I have given you power of My power to master the forces<br>
of nature. Within your frame — that part of you which is of the
earthly<br>
world — powerful forces and impulses are at work, just as they
prevail<br>
in the rest of the elemental and organic world, from which your
frame<br>
derives. Left to themselves, these forces drive on the way that is
innate<br>
to their nature, and find satisfaction in so doing. But you are free,
and<br>
I have granted you freedom of My freedom; I have given you power of<br>
My power to master the forces of nature; I have breathed into you a<br>
spirit of My spirit to hear the laws of My will; and you are to use
that<br>
freedom and that power to master, with a strong hand, your own world<br>
of inner drives and impulses, subordinating them all to the laws of
My<br>
will. Thus, when you subordinate to Me your drives and impulses, and<br>
through them subordinate to Me your very self, you will be close to<br>
Me and above all others, the one free being in a world of forces
that<br>
have no freedom of their own.<br><br>
Implicit in the concept of freedom, however, is the possibility of<br>
opposing God’s will. It is absurd to say that the ability to sin and
the<br>
temptations of the senses are only consequences of man’s
degeneration.<br>
For without the ability to sin and the alluring temptation of
sensuality,<br>
man ceases to be man. For man’s whole virtue is contingent upon his<br>
ability to sin; and man’s whole dignity lies in his ability to disobey
God’s<br>
will. In the elemental and organic world there is no sin, but —
precisely<br>
for this reason — neither are there moral virtues. If sensuality were
not<br>
attractive to man; if man, too, were to find satisfaction only in
using<br>
his faculties in accordance with God’s will; if all evil were bitter to
him,<br>
and all good were sweet; if he could not resist God’s will, as he
can<br>
resist the urges of his senses; if he were not capable of becoming a
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>sair<br>
l'Azazel</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>, as he is
capable of becoming a </font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>sair
l</i> '<i>Shem</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>— then, he,
too, would<br>
be subject to the compulsion of God’s law, like all the other
created<br>
things. For these never deviate from their assigned tasks; only the
fulfillment<br>
of God’s Will brings them satisfaction, and any deviation from<br>
it is antithetical to their nature.<br><br>
We all are faced with the decision between <i>Ha
Shem</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>and
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Azazel</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>. We all stand<br>
at the Sanctuary entrance — to choose between God and the power of<br>
our senses. Inside, in the Holy of Holies, rests the Torah as the
holiest<br>
of holies. With our eyes on the Torah, we make our decision.<br><br>
I have posted the entire commentary of Rav Hirsch on this posuk at
<a href="http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/vayikra_501_506.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/vayikra_501_506.pdf</a><br>
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Yitzchok Levine</font></body>
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