Rabbi Packos is asking, how is it that the Se'ir Hamistalieach, that's the goat that's sent away on Yom Kippur and thrown off a mountain, how is it mechaper without teshuva?
ANSWER:
We have to understand that the Se'ir Hamistalieach is actually a lesson, and the people understood the lesson. A lesson, even if it doesn't change your actions, but it changes your mind, and changing your mind already is a teshuva.
What is it that the Se'ir Hamistalieach teaches? Everybody knows that the Se'ir is Eisav; Eisav is symbolized by the Seir. He was a hairy man, and the he-goat, that's the symbol of Eisav. Yom Kippur they take the he-goat and throw it off a mountain and it's shattered. That symbolizes as follows: V'noso hasoir aluv es kol avonosom el eretz gezeira (Achharei mos 22:1), the he-goat will carry away their sins to a desert land.
Chazal say, V'noso hasoir, ze Eisav, Eisav will carry away es avonosom, avonos ta'am, the sins of Yaakov. If Eisav is cast off a mountain and is shattered, then Yaakov becomes an ish ta'am, he becomes perfect again. What does that mean? It means we have to learn from this, and they learned in those days, they understood it, that our greatest problem in this world is the influence of Eisav. If we can divest ourselves, if we can rid ourselves, of the influence of the nations of the world-of course the Jews who follow Eisav are all included in Eisav-if we can get rid of their influence, that's number one, that's one of the most important methods of doing teshuva.
Of course there is still saor shebisa, the gemoro says two things. Saor shebisa, the yeast in the dough, v'shibud malchuos, and our subjection to the nations, the yeast in the dough that's the intrinsic yetzer hora in each one of us.
But there is another yetzer hora that's more encompassing, the overall yetzer hora of following the ways of the gentiles. All the wicked Jews in America are talmidim of Eisav, if you would see what they do, you will see that they all come from the examples given by the general gentile community. The wickedness of immorality, the wickedness of atheism and evolution-all the rishus is not a Jewish product. Even the avodah zaros that were worshiped in ancient days by some Jews were copied; all were imitations of idols of the gentiles.
Therefore our first problem is to de-gentilize ourselves, to get rid of the influence of the outside world.
Good Shabbos To All
This is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
Important Numbers
