This [the reason taught the previous day for the sacrificial Scapegoat of Azazel] is similar to a shepherd who wanted to cross his flock to the other side of a river. A wolf passed by to battle with [and destroy some of] his flock. The wise shepherd said, What shall I do? It might battle with [and destroy] the flock while I am in the midst of moving the lambs across. He raised his eyes and saw a desert goat that was big and strong. He said, I shall throw him before it [the wolf]. While they battle [and wrestle] with each other, I shall remove all the flock and they shall be saved from him.

'I shall...throw a great, powerful and forceful goat [namely Job] in his way [of Satan].

So does the Holy One, blessed be He, do. He said [to His Heavenly entourage], 'I shall certainly throw this great, powerful and forceful goat [namely Job] in his [Satan's] way. While he will be occupied with it, My children shall cross over [the Reed Sea] without a battle '. Immediately, "And G‑d said to the adversary, Have you noticed [Job, that there is no one like him in the world]." Eventually, the Holy One, blessed be He, caused them [Job and Satan] to join together, as written, "Behold, he is in your hand". (Job 2:6) While he [the Satan] was occupied with him [Job], he left Israel alone and there was no Accuser near them [so Israel crossed the dry sea bed while Egyptians sank like lead in powerful waters].

Similarly, on this day [of Yom Kippur] the Satan is ready to spy out the land [and search for Israel's sins] and we should send something before him with which to be occupied [i.e. the Scapegoat of Azazel]. While he is occupied with it, he will leave Israel alone and doesn't battle with them.

There is an allegory about the lowliest in the king's house - give him a little wine, and he will praise you before the king, otherwise [if you give him nothing] he will slander you before the king. Sometimes the superiors in the king's house believe this evil speech and the king punishes that man because of it.

Rabbi Yitzhak said, like a fool in the king's presence. Give him a little wine and then tell him and show him all the abominable things you have done and all the evil, yet he will praise you [and say there is none in the world more righteous and honest than you]. Here too, the Accuser is constantly in the King's presence. Israel therefore give him this offering [the Scapegoat of Azazel]. In this gift there is written all the evil things, the abominable things and the iniquities Israel did [as it says: " The goat shall thus carry upon itself all their sins "] . Yet he [Satan] comes and praises Israel and becomes their defender. And the Holy One, blessed be He, places everything [all the punishments that Israel deserved] upon the heads of the other nations, since it is written, "[if your enemy is hungry, feel him bread…] for you shall heap coals of fire upon his head." [i.e. your own sins will burn him like coals]. (Prov. 25:22)

To get access to the King, we need to be crafty with our Evil Inclination.

BeRahamim LeHayyim:   This is one of the original con-games. Job, who was silent when the king asked him, Jethro, and Balak about drowning the Jewish boys, basically runs interference for us as we cross the Sea of Reeds. His pain was our gain. So, we have reviewed this bait-and-switch many times. To get access to the King, we need to be crafty with our Evil Inclination. We need to really know ourselves well, to figure out what we need to do to stop the miss-takes that disconnect us — pull out the plug shall we say — from acting, speaking, and thinking correctly in the service of our Maker. See, the Satan as G‑d's most loyal servant is always there ready to attack us. Confuse him we will with the Shofar blowing, but that is only a decoy. On the day of Yom Kippur, we are granted free access. That is because the gematria of HaSatan/the Accuser is 364 — 364 days of the year we have difficulty. Today we are one with G‑d. Prepare the way!


Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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