Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Yoma/Chapter 6
The two Yom Kippur goats:
It is commanded that both of them should be equivalent in appearance, in stature, and in value, and that they are purchased together.
However, they are considered fit [for the rite] even if they are not equivalent.
[And even] if one is purchased today and the other tomorrow, they are considered fit.
If one of them dies:
If it has died prior to the drawing of the lots, [a new goat] should be purchased to compliment the remaining one.
But if it died from the drawing of the lots onward, two [new] goats are to be purchased together, and lots drawn over them from the beginning.
If [the goat designated] for Adonai has died, is should be recited [over the replacement], “This is [the goat] whose lot was drawn for Adonai, let it stand in place of the one [which died].”
If [the goat designated] for Azazel has died, is should be recited [over the replacement], “This is [the goat] whose lot was drawn for Azazel, let it stand in place of the one [which died].”
And the other [goat of the pair] is sent to pasture until it becomes unfit for sacrifice. [At that point], it may be sold, and it's value is considered a freewill offering, since [a goat that has been] designated for the public sin offering is not to be slaughtered.
Rabbi Yehuda said that it may be slaughtered.
And Rabbi Yehudah further said, if the blood [of the first goat] were spilled, then the scapegoat [lit. the one which is to be sent] should be slaughtered as well. [Likewise,] if the scapegoat is slaughtered, then the blood [of the first goat] should be spilled.
[The High Priest] approaches the scapegoat and places both of his hands on it and confesses.
He recites the following: “O Adonai I pray, Your people the house of Israel have done wrong, they have transgressed, they have sinned before You.
“O for the sake of the Holy Name, grant atonement for the wrongdoings, for the transgressions, and for the sins which they, Your people the house of Israel, have done wrongly, which they have transgressed, which they have sinned before You.
As it is written in the Torah of Moses Your servant: “For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the LORD.” (Lev 16:30 JPS)
Then, when the priests and the people who stood in the Temple court heard the Ineffable Name intoned by the High Priest, they would bow and prostrate themselves and fall on their faces. Then they would say, “Blessed is His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.”
[The High Priest] delivered [the scapegoat] to the one who would lead it [into the wilderness].
Everyone is fit to lead it, but the priests made it a fixed practice that Israelites were not allowed to lead it.
Rabbi Yosi recounts that Arsela led [the scapegoat], and that he was an Israelite.
A ramp was made for [the scapegoat], on account of the Babylonian [Jews] who would pluck at it's hair, saying to it, “Take [my sins] and leave! Take them and leave!”
Some of the nobles of Jerusalem would accompany it until the first booth.
There were ten booths from Jerusalem to the cliff, a distance of 90 ris, seven and a half per mile.
At each and every booth they said to [the one who was leading the scapegoat], “here is food, and here is water.” They accompanied him from each booth to the next, except for the final one, since they did not reach as far as the cliff with him, but rather they stood at a distance and watched what he did [in performance of the rite].
What did he do? He divided a strip of crimson cloth; one end of it he tied to the rock, and one end he tied between [the scapegoat's] two horns. He pushed it backward [over the cliff until] it was tumbling down. By the time it was halfway down the mountain [the strip of cloth ran out and] it's body was dislocated.
[The one who led the goat] came and sat in the final booth until it was dark.
And from what time were his clothes ritually unclean? From when he exited completely through the wall of Jerusalem.
Rabbi Shimon says, from the time that he pushed it over the cliff.
[The High Priest] came to the bull and the goat which were to be the burned [as the offering].
He tore out their portions which were to be offered, put them on a tray, and burned them completely on top of the altar.
He twisted them into braids and brought them out to the place for burning.
And from what time were their clothes ritually unclean? From the time that they passed completely through the wall of the Temple court.
Rabbi Shimon says: from the time that most of [the offering] was burning.
They said to the High Priest: "The goat has reached the wilderness."
But how was it known that the goat had reached the wilderness?
They would make towers [along the way], and raise signal flags so that it would be known that the goat had reached the wilderness.
Rabbi Yehudah said: And didn't they have an obvious way to tell [when it had reached the wilderness]? It is three miles from Jerusalem to Beit-Hadudo.
[Those who accompanied the scapegoat to the first booth] had walked one mile [to the booth], and had returned one mile. They spent enough time [in the booth] for one to walk another mile. [Thus by the time they had returned to Jerusalem] it would be known that the goat had reached the wilderness.
Rabbi Ishmael said: But there was yet another way for them to tell. A strip of crimson cloth would be tied to the gate of the Temple, and when the goat had reached the wilderness, the strip would blanch, as it is written: “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isa 1:18 JPS)