The ritual of kaporos is not discussed in the Torah or the Talmud. In the ninth century, a handful of Jewish scholars claimed that since the Hebrew word gever means both “man” and “rooster,” punishment of the bird could be substituted for that of a human.
"Swinging" a chicken with their wings
forced backwards...
image from UPC United
Poultry Concerns...
Kaporos is a ritual that takes place in the days leading up to Yom Kippur, the holiday of atonement after the Jewish New Year, which generally falls in September-October. During kaporos, a chicken is swung over a participant’s head three times while a prayer is said. The chicken is supposed to absorb the sins of the participant, and then the bird’s throat is slit. Chickens are often held painfully by their wings while being swung.
In Brooklyn, an estimated 60,000 chickens are swung and massacred each
year, forced to spend days in cages without food or water prior to the
'ritual'..
image from UPC United
Poultry Concerns..
The ritual of kaporos is not discussed in the Torah or the Talmud. In the
ninth century, a handful of Jewish scholars claimed that since the Hebrew
word gever means both “man” and “rooster,” punishment of the bird could be
substituted for that of a human.
Practitioners of kaporos often claim that the chickens killed in the event
are donated to charity as food, but this is usually not the case, with
birds’ bodies strewn about the streets or tossed in piles of trash.
In New York City, where the largest kaporos rituals take place on city
streets, some 50,000 birds are killed in the slaughters that take place
throughout a week. This is only after the birds are shipped in and stacked
in crates for many days with their own feces, deprived of food and water,
crammed in cages so small they cannot stand up fully or turn around.
“Anyone who walks through the markets can see that the manner in which the
chickens are held before the Kapparot is insufferable. There is no
veterinary supervision and no concern for the feelings of these poor
creatures.” - Rabbi Gilad Kariv, CEO of Israel Movement for Reform and
Progressive Judaism
This is not only a health hazard for people in the area, but a crisis of
Jewish faith. The core Torah mandate of tsa'ar baalei chaim prohibits
causing animals pain. Indeed, the welfare of animals is so important that
the Fifth Commandment mentions them specifically, and they too must be
allowed to rest on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10). To read more about our duty
to animals, click here.
The use of chickens as kaporos is also simply unnecessary—many rabbis agree
that money is a perfect substitute during the ritual.
“It is absurd that people are asking for life by taking the life of another
creature, especially when Kapparot can be done with money.” - Chedva
Vanderbrook, Jerusalem Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Jewish Veg is committed to protecting all animals from suffering and
cruelty. Please read more about the nine billion more chickens who are
killed for food each year in the U.S.—this is a number that dwarfs that of
the chickens used as kaporos, and cannot be ignored.
Jewish Veg stands with the
Alliance to
End Chickens As Kaporos and the
Shamayim V’aretz Institute, who have
both provided excellent information on the topic, as well as lists of
Orthodox rabbis who have come out in opposition to the practice of chicken
kaporos.