1) (Vayikra 16:20) ("And when he has finished making atonement for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, then he shall draw near the living he-goat.") "And when he has finished making atonement for the holy place": If he has made atonement, he has finished. These are the words of R. Akiva. R. Yehudah said to him: Why not say (as per the verse) "If he has finished, (including spilling out the left-over blood at the base of the altar), he has made atonement"? To teach that if one of the applications (of blood) were lacking, it is as if he has not made atonement. "And when he has finished making atonement for the holy place": This refers to (the sprinklings between the staves of the ark in) the holy of holies. "the tent of meeting": This refers to (the sprinklings on the curtain in) the sanctuary. 2) From here they ruled: If he made part of the applications within and the blood spilled, he brings other blood and begins again with the applications within. R. Elazar and R. Shimon said: He starts only from where he left off. If he finished the applications within and the blood spilled, he brings other blood and begins again with the outer applications. If he made part of the (outer) applications and the blood spilled, he brings other blood and begins again with the outer applications. R. Elazar and R. Shimon say: He starts only from where he left off. If he finished the outer applications and the blood spilled, he brings other blood and begins with the altar applications. If he made part of the altar applications and the blood spilled, he brings other blood and begins again with the altar applications. R. Elazar and R. Shimon say: He starts only from where he left off. 3) If he finished the altar applications and the blood spilled, then (failure to) spill out the remaining blood at the base of the altar does not impede (the atonement). And all of them (i.e., all bullocks that were slaughtered to replace blood that was spilled) confer tumah upon the garments (of those who burned them), and they (the bullocks) are burned in the Bet Hadeshen (viz. Vayikra 16:28). These are the words of R. Elazar. R. Shimon and R. Meir say: The only one which confers tumah upon garments and is burned in the Bet Hadeshen is the last one, which consummates the atonement. "and then he shall draw near the living he-goat": Up to this point (for the atonement to "take") it must be alive. 4) (Vayikra 16:21) "And Aaron shall place his two hands on the head of the living he-goat, and he shall confess over it all the transgressions of the children of Israel, and all their offenses of all of their sins, and he shall place them on the head of the he-goat, and he shall send him by the hand of an appointed man to the desert.") "And Aaron shall place his two hands on the head of the he-goat": We are hereby taught that semichah (laying on of hands) with two hands is an archetype (binyan av) for all the semichoth in the Torah. 5) "on the head of the living": the living (he-goat) requires semichah, and not the he-goats (sacrificed) for (unwitting congregational) service of idolatry, viz. (Bamidbar 15:24). These are the words of R. Yehudah. R. Shimon says: The living he-goat requires semichah by Aaron (and his sons), but not the idolatry he-goats. For R. Shimon was wont to say: Every congregational sin-offering, whose blood enters within (the sanctuary) requires semichah. 6) "and he shall confess over it": verbal confession. How did he confess? "Ana Hashem, atone, I beseech You, for the sins, and for the transgressions, and for the offenses, which they have sinned, and transgressed, and offended before You, Your people, the house of Israel, as it is written in the Torah of Moses Your servant (Vayikra 16:30) 'For on this day He shall atone, etc.'" And they answer after him "Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever." 7) This tells me (that he confesses) only their definite sins. Whence do I derive (that he also confesses) their possible sins, their sins by constraint, and their unwitting sins? From "all" in respect to "transgressions," "offenses," and "sins." I might think that (sins liable to) sin-offerings and guilt-offerings are included among them. It is, therefore, written "them" — "them on the head of the he-goat," and not (sins liable to) sin-offerings and guilt-offerings on the head of the he-goat. 8) From here they ruled: (Offerings of) definite liability for sin-offerings or guilt-offerings, which Yom Kippur passed by, must be brought after Yom Kippur; and suspended guilt-offerings (for possibility of having transgressed) are exempt. "and he shall send them by the hand of a man": even one who is not a Cohein. "appointed": that he be readied (the preceding day). "appointed": even on the Sabbath. "appointed": even if he is in a state of uncleanliness. 9) (Vayikra 16:22) "And the he-goat shall bear upon itself (all of their transgressions"): It bears them upon itself, "unassisted" by the other he-goats (the inner and outer he-goats). And for what do the other he-goats atone? For tumah of the sanctuary and its sanctified objects. And for what variety of this tumah do the other he-goats atone? For deliberate transgression, thereof, this being atoned for by the inner he-goat.
Sifra Acharei Mot Section 4
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