Yoma 67a (סז.) — the Talmud in English

Because the distance between Jerusalem and the cliff of Azazel was

ninety ris

[a measure of distance], and

seven and a half

ris constituted

one mil.

It follows that ninety ris are twelve mil. A person is permitted to travel only one mil beyond his place on Shabbat, namely, [two thousand cubits,] the Shabbat limit. Therefore, they erected ten booths along the way. The final booth stood ten mil from Jerusalem. [The inhabitants of each booth accompanied him for a distance of one mil.] It follows that the inhabitants of the final booth accompanied him to a distance of eleven mil from Jerusalem. He walked the final mil alone. The person who sat in the final booth stood at a distance and watched his actions.

At each and every booth

the people sitting there

would say to him

[when the High Priest reached there]:

“Here is food and here is water,”

and if you have grown weak from the fast and the journey, you can eat and drink.

And they accompanied him from one booth to the next.

Except for the final one among them

[the booths],

which did not accompany him to the cliff; rather, it stood at a distance

one mil from its booth,

and watched his actions

of the one who escorted the goat.

And

what did

the one who escorted the goat

do

at the cliff?

He

divided the crimson thread

[wool dyed red] into two parts.

Half of it was tied

[with a knot]

to a rock. And half of it was tied

[with a knot]

between the two

horns

of the goat.

And they pushed it backward, and it

was

rolling and descending, and it did not

the goat

reach halfway down the mountain before it

had already

become

crushed into

limb after limb.

After he pushed the goat,

he came and sat beneath the final booth

which was two mil from the cliff of Azazel. They permitted him to travel more than two thousand cubits, because he was afflicted and weak, and, in addition, because he was afraid to remain alone in the wilderness after dark.

It is stated [Leviticus 16:26]: “And the one who sends the goat to Azazel shall wash his garments.” From here it follows that the garments of the one who escorted the goat became impure and he was required to wash them, [that is, immerse them in a mikve].

And from when

does the one who escorts the goat

render impure

the

garments

that he is wearing?

From when he leaves beyond the wall of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Shimon says: From the time he pushes it over the cliff.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: There were ten booths [from] Jerusalem to the cliff.

The Sages taught:

There were ten booths and twelve mil

from Jerusalem to the cliff,

the words of Rabbi Meir

[and as we learned in our Mishna].

Rabbi Yehuda says: There were nine booths and ten mil

between Jerusalem and the cliff.

Rabbi Yosei says: There were five booths and ten mil. And

the inhabitants of the booths could accompany him

all of them

[all ten mil]

by means of

making an

eruv

of Shabbat limits on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Rabbi Yosei said: My son Elazar told me

in jest regarding my statement:

If

they traversed the entire way

by

means of an eruv,

they did not need five booths. Rather,

I could make even two booths, and

they could walk by means of them

ten mil.

That is, they would place the first booth four mil from Jerusalem, and the distinguished residents of Jerusalem would walk two mil by means of an eruv.

The people of the first booth would place one eruv at the end of a mil toward Jerusalem, enabling them to walk two mil to the place where the distinguished residents of Jerusalem had accompanied him. They would place another eruv at the end of a mil toward Azazel, enabling them to walk two mil in the direction of Azazel. It follows that altogether they would accompany the one who escorted the goat for six mil.

There would remain another two mil to Azazel. They would place the second booth in the middle of that distance, and its residents would establish one eruv toward Jerusalem and a second eruv toward Azazel. Thus, they could walk two mil toward him [to the place where the inhabitants of the first booth had accompanied him] and accompany him for all four of the remaining mil to Azazel.

According to whom does it proceed,

according to whose opinion is the following

that was taught:

And they accompany him from one booth to the next,

except for the final one among them, which did not accompany him to the cliff; rather, it stood at a distance and watched his actions?

According to whom —

according to Rabbi Meir,

who holds that there were twelve mil and ten booths. The final one accompanied him only to the end of the eleventh mil. But according to Rabbi Yehuda [who holds that there were nine booths and ten mil], and according to Rabbi Yosei [who holds that there were five booths and ten mil and that they traversed all of them by means of an eruv], the final one reaches the cliff.

We learned in the Mishna:

At each and every booth

the people sitting there

would say to him, “Here is food and here is water,”

and if you have grown weak from the fast and the journey, you can eat and drink.

The tanna

in a beraita

taught: No person ever needed

who sent the goat

it

[to eat and drink], and they said this to him

only

because

one who has bread in his basket

and does not eat

is not comparable to one who has no bread in his basket.

We learned in the Mishna:

What did

the one who escorted the goat

do

at the top of the cliff?

He divided the crimson thread

into two parts: half of it was tied to a rock, and half of it was tied between the goat’s two horns.

And we raise an objection: Why did he need to divide the crimson thread?

Let him tie all of it to the rock.

He could tie all of it to the rock and see it when it turned white!

And we answer:

Since

the performance of the

mitzva

was

with the goat,

which had to be pushed backward, the Sages were concerned that

perhaps it would turn white early, and his mind would be relieved.

Perhaps the thread would turn white before the goat was pushed, and he would rejoice that the sins of Israel had turned white, forgetting to attend to the goat and push it. Therefore, they ordained that he tie half of it between the goat’s horns after he had already tied half of it to the rock. Since he would finish with this thread, he would naturally observe it rather than the thread on the rock. Therefore, even if it happened to turn white before he pushed the goat, he would not forget to push it, since his eyes were directed toward the goat.

And we raise an objection:

Let him tie all of it

Let him tie the entire thread only

between the goat’s horns

of the goat! Why, then, did he divide the thread and tie half of it to a rock?

And we answer:

Sometimes he would bend its head backward without realizing it —

sometimes the goat would fall backward with its head bent and concealed behind its body, and he would be unable to see whether the thread had turned white. Therefore, they tied half of it to a rock. [They tied the other half between its horns, as stated above].

The Sages taught:

At first, they would tie the crimson thread to the entrance of the Hall on the outside;

if

it turned white,

the entire people

would rejoice,

but if

it did not turn white, they would be distressed and ashamed.

They instituted that they should tie it to the entrance

of the

Hall on the inside,

so that the entire people would not see it,

but they would still peer and look,

if

it turned white, they would rejoice,

but if

it did not turn white, they would be distressed.

They instituted that they should tie half of it to a rock

and half of it between its horns

[and they would no longer tie it at the entrance to the Hall].

Rabbi Nahum bar Pappa said in the name of Rabbi Elazar HaKappar: At first, they would tie the crimson thread to the entrance

of the

Hall on the inside, and once the goat reached the wilderness, it would turn white, and they would know that its mitzva had been performed.

As it is stated

[Isaiah 1]:

“Though your sins be like scarlet

[like red wool],

they shall become white as snow.”

We learned in the Mishna:

The goat would not

the goat

reach halfway down the mountain

before it became limb after limb.

A dilemma was raised before them

a question was posed to the members of the academy:

What is the status with regard to benefit of those limbs?

Is it permitted to derive benefit from them?

And they disagreed about this:

Rav and Shmuel —

one said: They are permitted, and one said: They are forbidden.

And we explain their rationales: