Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

The blind and the lame, by Johann Theodor de Bry, 1596. Rijksmuseum

Yoma 70: Two Goats for Two Types of Sin

jyungar June 21, 2021

For the source text click/tap here: Yoma 70

To download, click/tap here: PDF

Our Mishnah specifically lays out the order of the service. According to this Mishna, Yom Kippur seems like one long day of disrobing, immersing, drying, dressing in gold or linen robes, doing a ritual, and then repeating the process. At the end of this incredibly long day, this Mishna tells us that he is surrounded by people as he walks home. At home, the High Priest prepares a feast. It is tough to imagine the High Priest preparing a feast at that point. Others must have been home preparing while he was leading prayers. But the Talmud tells us that he was the one who makes the feast - an interesting description.

The Zohar notes that the name “Yom HaKippurim” is plural. What can we learn from the fact that the Torah does not refer to this day as “Yom Kippur - The Day of Atonement”?

We can identify two categories of improper actions. One is simply when a person neglects to do that which is incumbent upon him. The other is when a person performs the actions that are expected from him but does them improperly.

To illustrate the body and soul’s responsibility for sin, an early midrash presents the parable of the blind and lame watchmen. Curiously, this parable later shows up in Piyyut and in a Christian text.

What might this teach us about the spread of rabbinic texts and ideas in late antiquity?

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​