As Heard From Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT”L

Yom Kippur is the special day when we make Teshuba by:
1. Admitting our sins
2. Regretting what we did
3. Promising Hashem that we will not do them again

King David tells us the formula for successful Teshuba, “Sur me’ra vasse tob.” This means that before we can try to go ahead and do good things we must stop doing the bad things.

We can learn this important lesson from the service of the Cohen on Yom Kippur. The Cohen would take a goat, “Seir,” and throw it down the mountain where it was smashed to pieces. As a result, the whole Jewish Nation was forgiven for its sins. The question is why should throwing a goat off the cliff do anything for our sins?

The goat, “Seir,” is the symbol for Esav who was ‘hairy’ and lived on Mount “Seir.” Esav is the Nations of the world. When the Cohen throws the hairy goat down the mountain it is atonement for the Jewish Nation. This is symbolizing throwing the influences of the Goyim out of our homes and our lives. We shall rid ourselves of their bad influences and then Hashem will forgive us.

We learn from Abraham Abenu that what ever a person allows himself to see, hear or read will forever continue to exist in the filing cabinet of his mind. In fact, they will accompany us to Olam Haba. So now, before Yom Kippur, we should commit to being very careful what we put into our heads. This is a very holy place.

Tizku Leshanim Rabot

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