Ahead of Yom Kippur, Jewish activists debunk Kapparot misconceptions

• Author: AARON REICH
• Published date: 13 September 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

But these activists, known as the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos are working to stop what they consider to be a barbaric practice and have been fighting for over a decade to help end it.

For years, they have campaigned and called for legal action and a ban of the practice, but to no avail. Now, they're trying a different approach, focused on community outreach.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

>

Much of their work focuses on educating people about Kapparot, as there are some profound misunderstandings about the practice.

"I'm Jewish, and I come from 18 generations of rabbis. I'm not personally religious anymore, but I grew up ultra-Orthodox. Nobody in my family uses chickens for Kapparot. Some never even did it at all," Alliance founding member Rina Deych told The Jerusalem Post.

The practice of Kapparot is to swing a chicken over one's head while praying, though it can be substituted with money. Men take roosters and women take hens. Pregnant women use three chickens, one hen for herself, another hen for if her child will be a girl, and one rooster for if her child will be a boy.

Many Jews who practice Kapparot, and especially with the use of a chicken, take the ritual's origins for granted, assuming it has been a long-standing part of scripture. But this is not the case.

The practice apparently dates back to the late Talmudic era, with the first known record of it being during the Geonic era around 660 CE. However, Kapparot is not mentioned in the Torah or the Talmud. Rather, its first official mention in a text of Jewish law was in the Shulchan Aruch in the 16th century. And that mention was not positive, with the compiler of the Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi Yosef Karo, calling it "a practice that ought to be prevented," and suggested using money instead of a chicken.

It was only later when noted Ashkenazi scholar Rabbi Moshe Isserles added to the work that the practice was given more legitimization in the Shulchan Aruch.

So where did it come from?

Many believe it to be rooted in pagan customs, and it was for this reason that it was opposed by many rabbis throughout history, most notably the 12th-century authority Nachmanidies, better known as the Ramban.

But other, more modern problems, come from another angle.

"It violates state laws and halacha, not the least of which is tzar baalei chayim (causing distress to a living animal," Deych explained.

...