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Scapegoat
Some say that Shemhazai and Azael, two angels in God’s confidence,
asked: ‘Lord of the Universe, did we not warn You on the Day of
Creation that man would prove unworthy of Your world?’
God replied:
‘But if I destroy man, what will become of My world?’
They answered:
‘We shall inhabit it.’
God asked: ‘Yet upon descending to earth,
will you not sin even worse than man?’
They pleaded:‘Let us dwell
there awhile, and we will sanctify Your name!’
God allowed them to descend, but they were at once overcome by lust
for Eve’s daughters, Shemhazai begetting on them two monstrous sons
named Hiwa and Hiya, each of whom daily ate a thousand camels, a
thousand horses and a thousand oxen.
Azael also invented the
ornaments and cosmetics employed by women to lead men astray. God
there warned them that He would set loose the Upper Waters, and thus
destroy all men and beasts.
Shemhazai wept bitterly, fearing for his
sons who, though tall enough to escape drowning, would starve to
death.
Azael, however, far from repenting, still offers women ornaments and
many-coloured robes with which to lead men astray. For this reason,
on the Day of atonement, Israel’s sins are heaped on the annual
scapegoat; it is then thrown over a cliff to Azazel - as some call
Azael. Yalquet Genesis 44 ; Bereshit Rabbati 29-30 |
