On the day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, two goats are brought forth. One is sacrificed. The other is taken out into the wilderness and driven away from the land.
Christians are divided. They threw away the substance, thinking that they have already acquired the essence. They are in confusion on the meaning of Yom Kippur. Some say that the scape goat, the goat that escapes with its life, is a representation of Satan, who is responsible for all human sinfullness. Others say the scapegoat is a representation of Jesus, upon whom all the sins of the world were put.
I'm just a humble computer programmer, not a theologian, so I don't know if those Christians are right or wrong. But it did pop into my head tonight that the symbolism of Yom Kippur is uncannily similar to the story of Cain and Able. You will recall, Abel offered up a sheep. God accepted it, because Abel was a good man. God didn't accept Cain's offering of vegetables. This is not because anything is wrong with a grain offering, but because God does not accept the prayers, hymns, praises, or other offerings, let alone blood offerings, from a wicked man. Instead of fixing his own problems, Cain killed Abel out of jealousy. God then drove Cain out into the wilderness, out of the land of Eden.
There are many lessons to be drawn from this. There are two types of competition. In the good type, you improve yourself, you improve your work, and you improve your relationships with others. Then they reciprocate in kind. This type of comptetition starts an upward spiral of blessings for everyone. This is capitalism at its best. In the bad type of competition, you make moves solely devoted to tearing someone else down. Instead of improving yourself, and so raising the absolute value of the whole system, you degrade the whole system just to make yourself look relatively better. If you are in a race, and you trip another runner, that is an example of the bad type of competition. Cain's killing of Abel is an extreme example of the bad type of competition. He killed the man better than him, instead of improving himself.
With such strong symbolism, I have to ask, why does Yehowah want the story of Cain and Abel remembered every year in the particular way that it is remembered at Yom Kippur? Is it a morality play, like the morality plays shown throughout Europe in the days of the Roman Church empire? Why the use of goats? And why is it that a woman is cleansed using the same pattern after she gives birth, but using doves instead of goats? For, if she cannot afford a lamb for a male son, she must offer one pigeon for a burnt offering, and another for a sin offering.
Why is it that the offering for cleansing of a leper follows the pattern of Yom Kippur, but using doves?
Leveticus 14:4-7 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
After Cain fled, he built the first city. This was the first city of refuge. When God commanded Israel to set aside some cities as cities of refuge, this should have reminded Israel of the original city of refuge, built by Cain.
A spry old man once said that Cain was also the founder of commerce, commerce being the one avenue that was open to him after the ground was doubly cursed to him. Cities, markets, and commerce do go together, making this seem plausible.
The more we know Torah, the more we are going to see that it was already present in seed form in the first few chapters of Genesis. We just needed to have our eyes open. There is a common school of thought that says that the Law, the 613 mitzvot, are actually commentary on the real law; the book of Genesis and the other records of the deeds and doings of Almighty Yehowah. It is an interesting way to view things, and very instructive.
Please write in if you have any thoughts on the symbolism and meaning of Yom Kippur. I'd like to get to the bottom of it. Why do we keep it? Are we lepers? Is that how distant we are from God? Remember, Clay and Egg (Adam and Eve) suddenly felt a need to be covered after they sinned. Lo, likewise a leper must cover himself and not expose his skin. Is there a connection? You can email me at ted (AT) reactor-core (DOT) org.