So, I was at my sister's Sheva Brochos in Lincolnwood, eating a "chinese" repast of dead chicken and deader beef, when a series of divrei torah (expoundations on elements of the bible) were uttered. Most forced me to focus on not chuckling, but one provoked some thought, leading to the rant at hand...
Those who have seen the satanist symbol know that it is a goat's skull with the word "L'azazel" written above it in hebrew (actually, I'm reasonably certain fairly few who have been in the circumstance of seeing it could read it, but such is a seperate issue). According to the bible, the goat given to "azazel" (L' is the modifier meaning "to") is the counterpart to the goat given and sacraficed to god - the scapegoat. The goat given to azazel was set free into the wilderness.
Something they don't teach you in hebrew school is that azazel means the evil force in judaism also. One thing I was struck by in conversation with satanists is how they regarded their religion as dealing with nature and natural things including death more than as being the ritualistic worship of the Christian Satan (although some do that also). That night, their assertion made perfect sense to me - Judaism views the malefic force exactly the same way.
The innovation of Judaism, one adopted by the religions that followed, is that the religion does not worship nature, as polytheistic religions ineveitably do (E.G. a god of the sun, god of the sea, god of death, et al). Rather, the Jewish god stands above and beyond nature, ruling over it, rather than with it. Nature itself is the dark force that only the light of god can save man from.
Which brings us back to the source - the goat being let into the wilderness to Azazel is being left to the dark force of nature from which god protects , whereas the scapegoat is returned to god and the people's sins forgiven. With this understanding, the usage of azazel in context makes perfect sense. It also explains why certain aspects of the bible exist, such as the section requiring the destruction of the asherah prayer trees and the prohibition on foreign altars.
I'd love to open up comments on this, but I know I'll get spam. Just E-mail me with comments.
Posted by tspr at July 20, 2005 07:01 PM