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Yoma Chapter 4, Mishnah 2: The Two Se'irim and the Second Vidui

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Yoma, Chapter 4, Mishnah 2. The Mishnah describes the marking that was made on the two goats after the lottery, so that it would be clear which goat was designated to be sent away and which was designated to be slaughtered, and afterward it describes the second confession that the Kohen Gadol made over his bull.

Marking the two goats:

  • "Kashar lashon shel zehorit b'rosh sa'ir hamishtaleiach" - the kohen tied a crimson thread on the head of the goat that was to be sent away, "v'he'emido k'neged beis shilucho" - and stood it facing the place to which it was destined to be sent, toward the gate through which it would be sent out.

  • "Ul'nishchat k'neged beis shechitaso" - on the other goat, the one designated to be slaughtered, he tied the crimson thread opposite the place of slaughter, around its neck, at the spot where it was destined to be slaughtered.

In this way the two goats could be clearly distinguished from one another.

The second confession, over his bull:

"Ba lo etzel paro shniyah v'samach shtei yadav alav v'hisvadah" - the Kohen Gadol returns a second time to the bull, again places both his hands upon it, and confesses. The wording of this confession is almost identical to the first, except that now he does not include only the members of his household, but all the kohanim as well.

And this is what he would say in his confession: "Ana Hashem, aviti pashati chatati l'fanecha ani u'veisi u'vnei Aharon am kedoshecha" - and as we mentioned earlier, there is a dispute about this, and in practice we follow the other opinion: "chatati aviti pashati." With the words "u'vnei Aharon am kedoshecha" he includes all the kohanim.

And he continues: "Ana Hashem, kaper na la'avonos v'lapesha'im v'lachata'im she'aviti v'shepashati v'shechatati l'fanecha ani u'veisi u'vnei Aharon am kedoshecha" - again including all the kohanim - "kakasuv b'Toras Moshe avdecha: ki vayom hazeh yechaper aleichem l'taher eschem mikol chatoseichem, lifnei Hashem tit'haru".

And upon hearing the Divine Name issue from his mouth, they would respond after him: "Baruch shem kevod malchuso l'olam va'ed".