Reply To: Short & Sweet

Acharei Mos: Fork in the Road

At the height of the עבודה של יום הכיפורים, the Kohen Gadol takes two goats that are almost exactly alike and randomly selects one to be a Korban whose blood is sprinkled in the קודש הקדשים, and one to “bear the aveiros of the people” to the desert.

R’ Samson Raphael Hirsch writes that this is symbolic of the overarching life choice we all make. Standing in front of the Torah, represented by the קודש הקדשים, there are two paths to choose from. Will we sacrifice our personal desires (represented by שחיטה) in order to be able to enter into Hashem’s Presence? Or will we remain in our raw and unrefined state (יעמד חי), and let our desires lead us into the wilderness, to eventually tear us apart?

By so graphically illustrating the difference between the two choices, hopefully we can incentivize ourselves to take the right path.

‎לע״נ דוד חיים בו ישראל דוב הכהן
‎לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בו ר׳ בןציון שלום