PLEASE HELP TO END CHICKENS AS KAPOROS: petition, rally, videos, information

PHOTO COURTESY OF: http://www.hassidout.org/page_derniere129.htm

Kapparot (kaporos) is not consistent with Jewish teachings and law. Repentance and charity can be better accomplished by using money instead of a slaughtered chicken.
– Former Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren

• FROM  Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos
• PLEASE SIGN Petition to Replace Chickens with Money in Kaporos Rituals
• UPCOMING RALLY: Sept. 12, Brooklyn, NY  – see BELOW for details or click HERE

BACKGROUND

What is kaporos?
Kapparot (or kaporos or kaparos), meaning “atonements,” is a custom in which a chicken or money may be used. Kapparot using chickens is practiced by some Jews shortly before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. First, selections from Isaiah 11:9, Psalms 107:10, 14, and 17-21, and Job 33:23-24 are recited. Then a rooster (for a man) or a hen (for a woman) is held above the person’s head and swung in a circle three times, while the following is spoken: “This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace.” The chicken is then slaughtered and may or may not be given to the poor for food.

History of kaporos
Kaporos is not mentioned in the Torah or the Talmud. It was first discussed by certain Jewish scholars in the ninth century who claimed that since the Hebrew word gever meant both “man” and “rooster,” punishment of the bird could be substituted for that of a human. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, other Jewish scholars strongly opposed kaporos. The 13th-century scholar Rabbi Solomon ben Abraham Aderet considered kaparos a heathen superstition. Rabbi Joseph Caro called it a “foolish custom.” Others have pointed out that kaporos does not remove sins, and if it could, what would be the need for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement?

Continue reading the background of Kaporos HERE

Veterinarians Speak Out Against Using Chickens As Kaporos HERE

WARNING: GRAPHIC

Vodpod videos no longer available.

In this video, the animal rights activist group PETA documents abuses inconsistent with Jewish ethical laws in an attempt to convince the Jewish public that the ritual should no longer be practiced — especially considering that Jewish law permits that money be used (and donated) as a substitute for a live animal.

ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE AS PROVIDED FROM HERE

Vodpod videos no longer available.

RALLY DETAILS

WHEN: Sunday, September 12, 2010, promptly at 12 to 3 pm.

WHERE: 12 noon to 1:30 at 792 Eastern Parkway (between Kingston & Albany Avenues), Brooklyn, NY, and 1:30 to 3 at President Street & Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.

WHAT TO WEAR: The Kaporos ritual takes place in the period between the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rather than “swing” chickens, most Kaporos observers expiate their sins symbolically by swinging coins over their heads and donating the money to charity. The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos is not protesting the holiday, just the ritual of using chickens as Kaporos (ritual sacrifices). Please show respect for the holiday by NOT wearing shorts, t-shirts, or bright colored clothing. We encourage men to wear shirts and ties and pants other than jeans. We encourage women to wear beige, brown or black skirts below the knees and jackets covering their arms.

WHAT TO BRING AND WHAT NOT TO BRING: Bring posters that ask practitioners to use money instead of chickens. Posters can have pictures or photos of chickens being swung or money being used. Posters can be held in your hands or tied around your shoulders with cord. Write respectful slogans in English or Yiddish. WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BRING SIGNS ATTACHED TO STICKS OR POLES, OR STICKS OR POLES OF ANY KIND. Please do NOT write “Meat is murder” or “A holocaust is on your plate” or anything on your poster other than directly dealing with ending chickens as Kaporos. No audio effects are permitted.

HOW TO GET THERE BY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: The following is the MTA planning site for public transportation (the address of the first demo is 792 Eastern Parkway; the second demo is a couple of blocks away, so the public transportation directions are the same for both demonstrations. http://tripplanner.mta.info/_start.aspx

CLICK HERE FOR MAP

A Wing and a Prayer: the Kapparot Chicken-Swinging Ritual

I am a member of the religious Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. This year I took pictures of the deplorable conditions in which the birds were kept. I believe they receive no food or water for the week or so that they are in the possession of the retailers. They certainly receive no food or water over the Shabbat. One kapparot station had the birds outside exposed to the rain on a Shabbat through Sunday. I saw birds dead in their crates. Birds were crushed. Birds were opening and closing their mouths, probably out of thirst. The retailer who sold me my birds [to live in a sanctuary] tossed them into my box as if they were loaves of bread. The fact that most retailers didn’t even question me when I took pictures means that no one has made life difficult for these retailers. It’s time to make life difficult for people claiming to be religious and doing this to animals.

David Rosenfeld (2006)

Rabbi Zusya used to travel around the countryside collecting money to ransom prisoners. One night he came to an inn in which there was a large cage with all kinds of birds in it. Zusya saw that the creatures wanted to fly free through the spaces of the world. He burned with pity for them and said to himself, “Here you are, Zusya, walking your feet off to ransom prisoners, but what greater ransoming of prisoners can there be than to free these birds from their prison?” Then he opened the cage and the birds flew out to freedom.

Rabbi Everett Gendler, The Life of His Beast