A professor told his class
that two negatives may make a positive,
but two positives can never make a negative.
A student piped up
from the back of the class:
Yeah, right
- Source unknown
שעיר אחד לה' From a psychological point of view, things may be the same as their opposites.
An event may trigger equal and opposite reactions. We accept this as a fact of nature.
The English language reflects these opposites. To sanction something means the same as its opposite - it may be come holy or profane.
Conflicts and opposites are a part of traditional Jewish life. There was no apparent difference between the goat sent off to die for the sins of the Jews, and the other one that reached the pinnacle of sanctity.
ושעיר אחד לעזאזל
A scapegoat was brought into the Temple for G-d
and (an identical) one was sent into the wilderness
for Azazel
- Leviticus 16:10
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