Letter to the Editor: No To Kapparot.Comments (4)

No To Kapparot

It is getting close to Yom Kippor, the day in which chickens are ritually sacrificed by many Orthodox Jews. The observer “swings” the chicken, held by the legs or by pinning the bird’s wings backward, around his or her head, while reciting a chant about transferring one’s sins symbolically onto the bird. The chicken is then slaughtered, and may or may not be given to the poor.

Prior to the ceremony, the chickens are packed in crates, usually for days without food, water or shelter, and birds not used in the ritual have been found abandoned in their crates when the ceremony was over. Most telling is the callous way practitioners stand around chatting while holding the chickens with their wings pinned painfully backward and their legs dangling, as if they were sacks of garbage instead of living creatures.

Kapparot is not required by the Torah or the Talmud. Most observers swing money for charity as a symbolic gesture. However, thousands of chickens are used each year for this purpose. Isn’t it time that the Jewish Orthodox people end this barbaric torture of innocent, sentient animals?

Jamie Cohen
Pikesville