Red & White

“If your sins be like crimson, they can turn snow-white; if they be red as dyed wool, they can become like fleece.” (Isaiah 1:18)

Over and over again during the penitential season, we repeat the hope and aspiration for our sins to be cleansed and purified. We even try to look the part as white is a High Holiday fashion staple – especially on Yom Kippur.

The transformation from red to white featured prominently in the Yom Kippur service of “The Two Goats” described in the 4^th chapter of Yoma. The Kohein Gadol would draw lots. One goat would be a sin offering brought in the Temple, while the other went to Azazel, led to the wilderness, pushed off a cliff, and torn to shreds. This traumatic scene (especially for the goat) symbolized casting away and tearing apart sin with the chance to start fresh. It was a highlight for the spectators watching the service in the Temple as it also included a red/white symbol that would confirm atonement.

The Mishna (Yoma 4:1; 6:2,3,6,8) teaches:

“The High Priest tied a strip of crimson wool upon the head of the scapegoat… [Later, he] places both his hands upon it, and confesses (the sins of Israel) …and then passed the goat to the one who was to lead it to the wilderness… He divided a strip of crimson into two parts, half of the strip tied to the rock, and half of it tied between the two horns of the goat. And he pushed the goat backward, and it rolls and descends. And it would not reach halfway down the mountain until it was torn limb from limb… Rabbi Yishmael says…There was a strip of crimson tied to the entrance to the Sanctuary, and when the goat reached the wilderness and the mitzva was fulfilled the strip would turn white, as it is stated: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they will become white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).”

A miraculous indicator of forgiveness! The red strip turns white. That would be just awesome! The Talmud (Yoma 39a-b) notes that it certainly was – but didn’t always happen.

“During all forty years that Shimon HaTzaddik served as High Priest… the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel turned white, indicating that the sins of the people had been forgiven…From then onward, it sometimes turned white and sometimes it did not turn white…[During] the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple…the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white.”

Maybe achieving atonement isn’t as easy as shoving the goat over the cliff.

The Talmud Yerushalmi (Shabbat 9:3) notes a different tradition for the red string. Each person hung one in their window at home. Some turned white and some stayed red. That embarrassed those who were not forgiven. So, they changed the practice and tied the red string to the door of the Temple Sanctuary. Here, too, sometimes it changed from red to white and sometimes didn’t. So, they changed the practice again and tied the red string to the rock where the goat went over the cliff.

Maybe it’s best not to know for certain whether we’ve been forgiven.

In a certain way, we act as if we will be forgiven. We confess, we regret, we commit to do better. We wear white, and red doesn’t seem to be a color worn on Yom Kippur. We’re speaking and dressing for the part of being forgiven. What else can we do?

Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl, Rabbi of the Old City and Senior Rosh Yeshiva at Netiv Aryeh, was asked what’s the best character trait to focus on and improve this time of year. He responded ahavat Yisrael, care and concern for others.

We talk the part, and we dress the part. At this time of year, we must walk the walk as well – even if we wear red.

One Yom Kippur night, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, head of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, came to Kol Nidrei wearing a red tie. A red tie!? He never wore a red tie! Why would he wear red on Yom Kippur?

The mystery remained until after Yom Kippur, when a ninth grader related a question he’d posed to the rosh yeshivah on Erev Yom Kippur. He asked if it was proper to wear a red tie on Yom Kippur, since that was the tie he had. Rav Shmuel assured him that it was alright and wondered why he was asking.

“My friends were teasing me and telling me that it’s not appropriate,” the student confided.

Rav Shmuel wished him well – and then found a way to make him feel comfortable and validated on the holiest of nights.

Now, it would be fantastic if I wore a red tie on Yom Kippur – and it turned white at the end of Neilah! But I love how this story takes the symbol of sin and turns it on its head. We will never fully understand the reason for the Azazel goat or how (or if) the red string turned white. We do know that Yom Kippur is an amazing day that provides us the opportunity to repair things and make them better. We need to think about that for ourselves, and, especially, act upon that towards others.