What does “Azazel” refer to? Based on the context of the four times the word appears in Tanach—all of them in Vayikra 16 regarding the שעיר המשתלח (the goat sent away on Yom Kippur)—and the way it’s explained by the commentators, it would seem that it either refers to the location where the “scapegoat” was sent or the entity that it was sent to. However, both of these possibilities are problematic.
When Ibn Ezra (Vayikra 16:8) quotes some who say that Azazel is a specific mountain, he includes the opinion that it’s a mountain near Mt. Sinai—which means the term couldn’t apply once they left Sinai. Although Ibn Ezra isn’t concerned about this, most who say it’s a place name associate it with a cliff 10-12 mil from Jerusalem—which means it didn’t apply before the Temple was built. How could “Azazel” be a specific location if the goat was sent from numerous locations—including from Shiloh for hundreds of years and then from the Temple for hundreds of years? Additionally, if Azazel is a location, when the Torah describes where the goat was actually sent (Vayikra 16:21-22), shouldn’t the name of the location be mentioned there too? It therefore seems unlikely that when the Torah uses the term “Azazel” it’s referring to a place.
Ramban (16:8) is among those who say that Azazel is an angel (specifically Satan). Others equate Azazel with a “desert demon,” but whatever entity Azazel is associated with, the notion of sending a tribute or offering to anyone or anything other than God—on any day of the year—goes against the very essence of monotheism. Despite Ramban trying to minimize this issue by framing it as us following God’s instructions (so the “gift” comes from Him, not from us), a major part of the Yom Kippur service being something that, at the very least, smacks of idol worship, seems very foreign (unusual?)
When the Talmud discusses the meaning of the word “Azazel” (Yoma 67b), it seems to endorse both possibilities. First it says that עזאזל means “עז וקשה.” I’ll translate this as “strong and hard,” but words like fierce, cruel, sharp, mighty and severe work too. Either way, it clearly refers to the characteristics of the mountain where the goat is sent to (and thrown off of), implying that Azazel is a location. The Talmud then quotes the School of R’ Yishmael that Azazel atones for the sins of עוזא and עזאל, who (Rashi explains) are angels of destruction that descended and took advantage of the daughters of man, with the sending of the goat somehow atoning for this type of sin. (Others point out that the sins sending the goat away atone for are not limited to adultery.) However we understand this, it certainly seems to align with the opinion that Azazel is the name of an angel. Nevertheless, it doesn’t say that the goat is being sent to this angel, but that the act of sending the goat away (laden with the nation’s sins) atones for actions attributed to this angel.
Yalkut Shimoni (44) is one of the midrashim that expands on this idea. When God created man, some angels didn’t like the idea. When God decided to destroy the world (by sending the flood) because mankind had sinned, these angels said “Told You so!” (or something to that effect). God responded by telling them that if they lived on earth like man does, they’d be worse. They asked God if they could prove Him wrong, and when He said okay, they proved Him right instead, with one of the angels (Azazel) still trying to tempt humans to sin. The midrash ends by saying “and therefore Israel brings offerings on Yom Kippur; one lottery is for God in order to atone for Israel and one lottery is for Azazel, so that he can carry the sins of Israel—and this is the Azazel that’s in the Torah.” But what does this mean?
In Berachos (31b-32a), the Talmud says that Eliyahu accused God of causing Israel to sin by creating the evil inclination. Although Rashba (in his commentary on this Aggada) says Eliyahu was right, Maharsha refers us to Kiddushin 30b, where God tells Israel that the Torah is the antidote for the evil inclination, so even though God created us with the natural tendency to sin, He also gave us the ability to overcome this tendency, thereby shifting the blame back to us. Azazel’s downfall proves Eliyahu’s point, as even the heavenly angels will sin when faced with the temptation humans face; mere mortals have no chance, unless we use the antidote God gave us—the Torah—to combat the evil inclination.
When we do fail, whose fault is it—God’s for creating the evil inclination or ours for not studying and following the Torah? Sending the goat bearing our sins “to a land that is cut off” (16:22) is God’s way of accepting some of the blame—the part that led to Azazel’s downfall—and removing that blame from us, i.e. granting atonement for our sins. But we still have to repent for our part of the sin, since we could have chosen otherwise. Azazel “carrying our sins” refers to the part that can be blamed on the evil inclination, as this aspect of sin is removed from us and attributed to the factors that caused Azazel’s downfall instead. Rather than “Azazel” referring to the location the goat is sent to, or an entity to which it is sent, it refers to the ritual itself, whereby the part of sin that caused Azazel’s downfall is transferred from us to him (since he actively tries to cause us to sin; bear in mind that Satan is also the embodiment of the evil inclination—see Bava Basra 16a). The lottery designates which goat will be used for the offering to God and which goat will be used for the Azazel ritual (16:8). The goat designated for the Azazel ritual is not slaughtered, but stands before God to bring atonement (lit. “upon him,” but it could be translated as “upon Him”), to be sent to the desert as part of the Azazel ritual (16:10). When describing the ritual impurity caused by some of the Yom Kippur rituals (16:26-28), the one who brought the goat to the desert as part of the Azazel ritual must wash his clothes and body before reentering the camp (16:26).
Why is this ritual referred to as “Azazel”? The Talmud quotes two possibilities: (1) because the mountain the goat is pushed off is “strong and hard” or (2) because it brings atonement for the aspect of sin that caused the downfall of the angel whose name is Azazel. Perhaps Azazel himself mistakenly perceives the goat as being a gift to him, so refrains from prosecuting us on Yom Kippur—despite it really being just a mechanism for us to attain atonement by referencing the cause of his downfall.
Even though Azazel is the name of the ritual, and not the name of a location, after the Temple was built and the destination of the scapegoat—which cliff it was pushed off after leaving the Temple—was determined, that location (also) began to be referred to as “Azazel.”
Where is that location? Some tour guides say it’s Jebel Muntar, the highest peak in the Judean Wilderness, but as far as I can tell, this mountain has normal slopes and no cliff, so should be disqualified. Residents of Ma’ale Adumim, which is east of Jerusalem, apparently have a tradition that it’s the nearby cliffs, but they seem to be too close to the Temple (at least as the crow flies). Yoel Elitzur (“Places in the Parasha,” Yom Kippur), referencing the dispute on Yoma 67a regarding how far the cliff was from the Temple, says if the distance was 10 mil, the cliffs of Nachal Kidron fit, whereas if was 12 mil, the cliffs of upper Nachal Dragot fit. (Both are southeast of Jerusalem.) Hopefully the Temple will be rebuilt very soon, and we won’t need to guess!
Rabbi Dov Kramer wrote a weekly dvar Torah from 5764-5776, most of which are archived at RabbiDMK.wordpress.com and AishDas.org/ta. In 5765 He discussed another aspect of how Yom Kippur atones for sins beyond our actual repentance; see page 3 of aishdas.org/ta/5765/yomKippur.pdf.
