On Yom Kippur a strip of scarlet wool was tied on the head of the scapegoat before it was sent away. Rabbi Yishmael speaks of another, tied at the entrance of the sanctuary: when the goat reached the wilderness, it turned white, as it is written: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” According to the baraita, it was first tied at the opening of the Ulam, on the outside. If it turned white, they rejoiced; if not, they were sad and ashamed. It was moved inside, but people still came to peek; so it was divided, one half tied to the rock, the other between the goat's horns. During the forty years of Shimon HaTzaddik it turned white every year; during the forty years before the destruction, never.
Dimensions
- at the opening of the Ulam, on the outside, on the south jamb
- tied to a ring, four and a half amot above the threshold
- red when the goat leaves, white when it reaches the wilderness
Sources
- Yoma 4:2“קָשַׁר לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית בְּרֹאשׁ שָׂעִיר הַמִּשְׁתַּלֵּחַ”
- Yoma 6:8“רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר, וַהֲלֹא סִימָן אַחֵר הָיָה לָהֶם, לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית הָיָה קָשׁוּר עַל פִּתְחוֹ שֶׁל הֵיכָל, וּכְשֶׁהִגִּיעַ שָׂעִיר לַמִּדְבָּר הָיָה הַלָּשׁוֹן מַלְבִּין”
- Isaiah 1:18“אִם יִהְיוּ חֲטָאֵיכֶם כַּשָּׁנִים כַּשֶּׁלֶג יַלְבִּינוּ”
- Yoma 67a“בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה הָיוּ קוֹשְׁרִין לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית עַל פֶּתַח הָאוּלָם מִבַּחוּץ, הִלְבִּין — הָיוּ שְׂמֵחִין, לֹא הִלְבִּין — הָיוּ עֲצֵבִין וּמִתְבַּיְּישִׁין. הִתְקִינוּ שֶׁיִּהְיוּ קוֹשְׁרִין עַל פֶּתַח אוּלָם מִבִּפְנִים… הִתְקִינוּ שֶׁיִּהְיוּ קוֹשְׁרִין אוֹתוֹ חֶצְיוֹ בְּסֶלַע וְחֶצְיוֹ בֵּין קַרְנָיו”
- Yoma 6:6“חוֹלֵק לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית, חֶצְיוֹ קָשַׁר בַּסֶּלַע וְחֶצְיוֹ קָשַׁר בֵּין שְׁתֵּי קַרְנָיו”
- Rambam, Hilchot Avodat Yom HaKippurim 3:7“חוֹלֵק לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית שֶׁבְּקַרְנָיו. חֶצְיוֹ קוֹשֵׁר בַּסֶּלַע וְחֶצְיוֹ קוֹשֵׁר בֵּין שְׁתֵּי קַרְנָיו”
- Yoma 39a“אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה שֶׁשִּׁמֵּשׁ שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק… וְהָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין”
- Yoma 39b“אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה קוֹדֶם חוּרְבַּן הַבַּיִת… וְלֹא הָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין”
Project decisionAdopted: the baraita's first practice, at the opening of the Ulam, on the outside (Yoma 67a), the one seen from the Azara. The Mishna says “the entrance of the Heikhal” (Yoma 6:8). The Rambam knows only the strip divided between the rock and the horns (Service on the Day of Atonement 3:7): the one at the Ulam is an abolished practice, which the tour shows only on the Yom Kippur tour, red when the goat leaves, white once it has arrived. Tour's choice: the jamb, the height, the ring, the size of the strip.