Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos

Petitions

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  Urge Kaporos Practitioners to Use Money Instead of Chickens

  Kaporos ("atonements") is a custom preceding Yom Kippur - the Jewish Day of Atonement - in which chickens are ritually sacrificed by many Orthodox Jews. The person "swings" the chicken, held by the legs or by pinning the bird's wings backward, around his or her head while chanting 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, and birds not used have been found abandoned in their crates when the ceremony was over.

  The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos seeks to replace chickens in kaporos rituals for 3 principal reasons:

  The use of chickens as kaporos is cruel. They suffer in being held with their wings pinned backward, in being swung over the heads of practitioners, and in being packed in crates, often for days without food or water leading up to the ritual, which violates tsa'ar ba'alei chaim, the mandate prohibiting cruelty to animals.

  The use of chickens is not required by Jewish law. It is not a mitzvah but a custom that originated in the middle ages.

  There is an acceptable substitute that not only avoids cruelty but can help reduce hunger and show compassion. Money can be used as a non-animal alternative, and funds raised can be given directly to charities that provide food for the poor and hungry throughout the year, including 13,000 Jewish families living at or below the poverty line in New York City.

  EndChickensAsKaporos's YouTube Channel

  Eminent Orthodox Rabbis Oppose Using Chickens in Kaporos Rituals on Grounds of Religion, Morality, and Compassion for Animals

  "Since this is not a clear duty but rather a tradition, and in the light of the kashrut problems and cruelty to animals, and in the light of all of what our aforementioned rabbis said, it is recommended that one should prefer to conduct the atonement ceremony with money, thus also fulfilling the great mitzva of helping poor people."
  --Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Head of Jerusalem's Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim and Rabbi of Beit El, in a letter to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel quoted in The Jerusalem Post, September 14, 2010. http://www.jpost.com/VideoArticles/Article.aspx?id=188106

  "Beyond the objections of the Ramban, Rashba and the Bet Yosef to the custom of 'kapparot,' and beyond the warnings of rabbinic authorities such as the Chayei Adam, Kaf HaChaim, Aruch HaShulchan and the Mishanah Brurah regarding the halachic infringements involved in using live fowl for this custom, the latter also desecrates the prohibition against "tzaar baalei chayim" (causing cruelty to animals). Those who wish to fulfill this custom can do so fully and indeed in a far more halachically acceptable manner by using money as a substitute as proposed by the latter authorities mentioned above."
  --Rabbi David Rosen, CBE, KSG, International Director of Interreligious Affairs, AJC, and Chief Rabbinate of Israel's Honorary Advisor on Interfaith Relations. Former Chief Rabbi of Ireland, August 25, 2011

  "A custom must operate within the confines of Judaism's basic fundamental values. The Torah prohibits Jews from causing any unnecessary pain to living creatures, even psychological pain. It says in the Book of Proverbs, 'The righteous person considers the soul of his or her animal.' The pain caused to the chickens in the process of performing Kapparot is absolutely unnecessary. Giving money is not only a more humane method of performing the practice of Kapparot but it is also a more efficient way of ensuring that those who are in need will receive the requisite assistance."
  --Rabbi Shlomo Segal, Rabbi of Beth Shalom of Kings Bay in Brooklyn, New York, August 25, 2011

  If you agree, please sign our petition urging practitioners of kaporos to use money instead of chickens. Thank you for your support.

  RABBINICAL ASSOCIATIONS: PETITION RECIPIENTS

  THE NEW YORK BOARD OF RABBIS
  Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President 
  136 East 39th Street, 4th Floor 
  New York, NY 10016-0914 
  Phone: 212-983-3521 
  Fax: 212-983-3531 
  Email Rabbi Potasnik: jpotasnik@nybr.org 
  Office Email: Info@nybr.org 
  Website Contact: http://nybr.org/contact.htm 
  Website: http://nybr.org 

  RABBINICAL COUNCIL OF AMERICA 
  Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, President 
  305 7th Avenue, 12th Floor 
  New York, NY 10001 
  Phone: 212-807-9000 
  Fax: 212-727-8452 
  Email Rabbi Goldin: sgoldin@rabbis.org 
  Website Contact: http://www.rabbis.org/contact_us.cfm
  Website: www.rabbis.org 

  CHABAD-LUBAVITCH CENTER 
  Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, Rabbi Avraham Shemtov, Rabbi Shea Hecht 
  770 Eastern Parkway 
  Brooklyn, NY 11213 
  Phone: 718-774-4000
  Fax: 718-467-3263
  Email: Info@lubavitch.com
  Website: http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/9514/jewish/770-Eastern-Parkway.htm 

  We highly encourage writing personalized and original letters, as they get a lot of attention from recipients.

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