“Father Joshua, could you answer a question I have about the Day of Atonement we celebrated yesterday? “

“Sure, Yom. What’s up?”

“Well I get the two goats thing. One is sacrificed here and then all the sins of the people are placed on the poor scapegoat and somebody takes it out and sets it loose in the wilderness. But the part I don’t get is what WE are to do AFTER the scapegoat is led away. Priest Aaron told everyone to go back to their tents and afflict themselves until sundown. My family just sits around and I can’t play. But my friend Kipper told me when he was walking back to his tent, he saw several people getting drunk on too much wine. What is this ‘affliction’ thing?”

“When Aaron used the word ‘afflict,’ it has a meaning like ‘humble yourself.’ So I think Aaron is calling people to fast, pray, and seek the LORD. It is sort of like a very important Sabbath Day – no work, but consciously repenting of all those sins that got laid on the goat.

“My observation is that most people don’t understand the fasting and praying part. Some people are like the ones Kipper saw; they see it as a day off from work and don’t really care about what God says to do. But there are people at the other extreme who figure that ‘afflict’ implies punishing themselves, so they get palm branches and swat their back for most of the day.

“As with most God things, the hard path to follow is to give Him all the glory, with worship, reverence and thanksgiving for His work. You know there are lots of commandments to keep; you are old enough to know we can’t keep them all the time and it is a sin every time we disobey. So it is God’s grace to us to provide that scapegoat every year to remove all those sins far away. Remembering the purpose for the goats gives a big reason for being thankful and appreciative. Does all that make sense?”

“It does. Thanks. Maybe I didn’t really understand God’s part in the two goats. But I have to admit I don’t know why I can’t play games on a Sabbath or Atonement day….”

“Sounds like a discussion for another day.”