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This article is about the ritual of Kapparos. For the Kaporet – the cover of the Ark of the Covenant – see that article.

Kapparos or Kaparot (Hebrew: כפרות) is a traditional Jewish religious ritual that takes place around the time of the High Holidays. Classically, it is performed by grasping a live chicken by the sholder blades and moving around one's head three times, symbolically transferring one's sins to the chicken. ( The chicken is then slaughtered and donated to the poor, preferably eaten at the pre-Yom Kippur feast.^[1] Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... Kapparah (plural Kapparoth) in Hebrew it is means of atonement, a vicarious animal sacrifice on the day previous to the Yom Kippur, practiced by some Haredi groups of Judaism. ... A late 19th-century artists conception of the Ark of the Covenant, employing a Renaissance cassone for the Ark and cherubim as latter-day Christian angels The Ark of the Covenant (ארון הברית in Hebrew: aron habrit) is described in the Hebrew Bible as a sacred container, wherein rested the stone... Hebrew (עִבְרִית or עברית, ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ... The High Holidays refers to the ten-day period in Judaism which begins with Rosh Hashanah followed by the ten days of repentance, ending with Yom Kippur, the day of repentance. ... Shechita Shechita (Hebrew ) is the ritual slaughter of animals, as prescribed for slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws. ... Yom Kippur (יום כיפור yom kippÅ«r) is the Jewish holiday of the Day of Atonement. ...

In modern times, Kapparos is performed in the traditional form mostly in Haredi communities. Members of other communities tend to perform this ritual with charity money substituted for the chicken, swung over one's head in similar fashion. Haredi Judaism, also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Judaism. ... Tzedakah (Hebrew: צדקה) in Judaism, is the Hebrew term most commonly translated as charity, though it is based on a root meaning justice (צדק). According to Maimonides, there are eight levels of tzedakah in Jewish tradition, ranging from publicly giving funds, so that the donor and recipient both know who each other...

As the chicken (or money) is swung about the head, the following paragraph is traditionally recited:

This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. (This rooster will go to its death / This money will go to charity), while I will enter and proceed to a good long life and to peace.^[2]

Controversy

Rabbi Yosef Karo wrote in his major work on Jewish law that the custom had parallels to polytheistic rites and ought not be practiced. Rabbi Moses Isserles' commentary to that section disagrees and encourages the practice.^[3] In Ashkenazi communities especially, Isserles' position came to be widely accepted. The late 19th century monumental work Kaf Hachaim approves of the custom for the Sefardic community as well. Rabbi Yosef (Joseph) Ben Ephraim Karo (Caro) is one of the most important leaders in the history of halakha (Jewish law). ... The Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: Prepared Table), by Rabbi Yosef Karo is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud. ... Polytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or divinities. ... Moses Isserles (or Moshe Isserlis) (1530 - 1572), was a rabbi and Talmudist, best known for his fundamental work of halakha (Jewish law), titled the Mapah (HaMapah), a component of the Shulkhan Arukh; he is also well known for Darkhei Moshe, a commentary on the Tur. ... Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870-1939) was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist and posek (decisor of Torah law). Sofer is author of the work on halakha (Jewish law) titled Kaf Hachaim, by which title he is also known. ... In the strictest sense, a Sephardi (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Səfardim, Tiberian Hebrew Səp̄ardîm) is a Jew original to the...

Some Jews oppose the use of chickens for kapparot on the grounds of tza'ar ba'alei chayim (unnecessary pain to animals) [1]. On erev Yom Kippur 5766/2005, a number of caged chickens were abandoned in rainy weather as part of a kapparot operation in Brooklyn, NY; some of these starving and dehydrated chickens were subsequently rescued by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals [2] Subsequently Jacob Kalish, an Orthodox Jewish man from Williamsburg, was charged with animal cruelty for the drowning deaths of 35 of these kapparot chickens [3]. In response to such reports of the mistreatment of chickens, animal rights organizations have begun to picket public observances of kapparot, particularly in Israel [4]. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (usually referred to as the ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing the abuse of animals. ... The logo of the Great Ape Project, which is campaigning for a Declaration on Great Apes. ...

See also

• Tashlikh

Tashlikh (Hebrew, meaning casting off) is a long-standing practice on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year according to the Hebrew calendar) to go to a large, natural body of flowing water (such as a river, lake, sea or ocean) and throw some bread, or a similar food item, into...

References

1. ^ Shulchan Aruch Rama O.C. 605:1
2. ^ The Complete Artscroll Machzor: Yom Kippur, p.4
3. ^ Shulchan Aruch O.C. 605:1

The Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: Prepared Table), by Rabbi Yosef Karo is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud. ... Orach Chayim is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Ashers compilation of Jewish Law, Arbaah Turim, that treats all aspects of Jewish Law primarily pertinent to the Jewish calendar (whether the daily, weekly, monthly, or annual calendar). ... ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish, more specifically a Haredi, perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd. ... The mahzor (machzor in Hebrew, pl. ... The Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: Prepared Table), by Rabbi Yosef Karo is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud. ... Orach Chayim is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Ashers compilation of Jewish Law, Arbaah Turim, that treats all aspects of Jewish Law primarily pertinent to the Jewish calendar (whether the daily, weekly, monthly, or annual calendar). ...

Sources

• Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 605

The Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: Prepared Table), by Rabbi Yosef Karo is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud. ... Orach Chayim is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Ashers compilation of Jewish Law, Arbaah Turim, that treats all aspects of Jewish Law primarily pertinent to the Jewish calendar (whether the daily, weekly, monthly, or annual calendar). ...

External links

• Kapparah at the Jewish Encyclopedia online.
• The Use of Animals in Rituals: The Custom of Kapparot in the Jewish Tradition from the Concern for Helping Animals in Israel