{"id":97438,"date":"2026-09-20T16:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T23:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/?p=97438"},"modified":"2026-09-20T13:50:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:50:55","slug":"jewish-kapporot-chicken-ceremony-and-the-day-of-atonement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/religious-news\/jewish-kapporot-chicken-ceremony-and-the-day-of-atonement\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish Kapporot ‘chicken ceremony’ and the Day of Atonement (De la Expiaci\u00f3n)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Lithograph of Kapparot, late 19th\/early 20th century<\/span>
\n(Photo via Wikipedia)<\/em><\/p>\n

COGwriter<\/a><\/p>\n

Certain Jews have an unusual ceremony they conduct the evening starting the Day of Atonement, which they call Yom Kippur.<\/p>\n

Kapparot<\/b><\/i> (Hebrew<\/a>: \u05db\u05e4\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea<\/span>, Ashkenazi transliteration<\/a>: Kapporois<\/i><\/span>, Kapores<\/i><\/span>) is a customary<\/a> atonement<\/a> ritual<\/a> practiced by some Orthodox<\/a> Jews<\/a> on the eve of Yom Kippur<\/a>. This is a practice in which either money is waved over a person’s head and then donated to charity, or a chicken<\/a> is waved over the head and then slaughtered in accordance with halachic<\/a> rules and donated to the hungry.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> It is important to clarify that it is not a sacrifice as it is not even an offering and it can be eaten just as any other chicken.[<\/span>2]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> (Kapparot. Wikipedia, accessed 10\/02\/25)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is more information about it:<\/p>\n

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Kapparot: The Yom Kippur Tradition of Chicken Twirling<\/h2>\n

Aug. 31, 2021<\/p>\n

By Lawrence Goodman<\/p>\n

For some 1,000 years, many Jews have observed the same ritual every Yom Kippur Eve \u2014 waving a chicken over their head.<\/p>\n

The practice is called kapparot (atonements) in Hebrew and “shluggen kappores” in Yiddish. Shluggen means beating or hitting, which is not what the ceremony entails, but probably what it feels like to the chicken. …<\/p>\n

According to Professor of Classical Rabbinic Literature Reuven Kimelman<\/a>, kapparot involves swinging a living chicken three times around your head while reciting a prayer. Traditionally, men use roosters and women hens, though pregnant women use both in case they’re having a boy. After the ceremony, the animal is slaughtered according to Jewish law.<\/p>\n

Today, money is sometimes substituted for the chicken. Afterward, the cash may be given to charity. …<\/p>\n

No one is sure. It’s not mentioned in the Torah or Talmud. The first reference appears in the 9th century in a responsa, a kind of question-and-answer session, with the scholar Amram ben Sheshna. As head of a revered Babylonian academy, Sheshna was considered a great sage, but when asked about kapparot’s origin, he said, “For we do not know.”<\/p>\n

Historians believe it probably began several centuries before Sheshna’s commentary and then became widespread, requiring the rabbis to devise an ex post facto explanation. Sheshna said it derived from a practice in the ancient temple, where a goat bearing the sins of the people was sent into the wilderness to die. But after the destruction of the Temple, Jews were prohibited from carrying out the practices once done there. Sheshna said kapparot was a convenient workaround with another animal.<\/p>\n

But why a chicken?<\/h3>\n

Yom Kippur is the day when God decides whether you will live or die based on your and others’ sins. As it happens, the word for rooster is gever<\/em>, which can also mean man. Kimelman said this made it possible to see the chicken as a stand-in for a human being (in addition to being a stand-in for a goat). The practice could potentially save your life, it was believed. As the kapparot prayer states, “And may this rooster go on to death so that this person may remain alive.”<\/p>\n

What happened to the dead chicken?<\/h3>\n

In the Middle Ages, its entrails were tossed on the roofs of houses for other animals to devour. According to the 20th-century scholar Jacob Lauterbach, this appeased Satan, who was believed to dwell on rooftops and apparently really liked raw chicken.<\/p>\n

In his 2011 book, “The Shtiebelization of Modern Jewry,” the scholar Simcha Fishbane<\/a> claims that tossing the entrails was done for the exact opposite reason. Rabbis worried that kapparot would feed antisemitic tropes about Jews engaging in magic or sorcery. Bird remains left outside would be quickly devoured by insects and other animals, making it impossible for Gentiles to gather any incriminating evidence.<\/p>\n

Jews later started donating the chicken to charity. Kimelman says it counted for one last good deed before God decided your fate on Yom Kippur. https:\/\/www.brandeis.edu\/jewish-experience\/holidays-religious-traditions\/2021\/august\/kapparot-the-yom-kippur-tradition-of-chicken-twirling.html<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The original rites and practices for the Day of Atonement are set forth in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus (cf. Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 23:27-31, 25:9; Numbers 29:7-11). It is considered to be a time for fasting, during which no food or drink are to be consumed:<\/p>\n

26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: “Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. 27 It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls…32 It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath (Leviticus 23:26-27,32).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is historically how the phrase “afflict your souls” has been interpreted by the Jewish community to mean fasting (this is also verified by such passages as Psalm 35:13; 69:10 and Isaiah 58:5), unless one is somehow ill, and thus is already afflicted. Evening to evening means from sunset to sunset. Jews tend to fast, but added the chicken ceremony<\/p>\n

In the New Testament, the Day of Atonement is referred to as “the Fast” (Acts 27:9). The fact that this day was referred to that way (or even at all) is an indication that it was observed by Christians after Christ’s resurrection. The Bible clearly shows that so-called Jewish holy days, such as Pentecost<\/a> were observed by Christians after Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 2:1).<\/p>\n

While Jews do not have a full understanding of the Day of Atonement, because they do not accept the sacrifice of Jesus, you can know more of what the day really means.<\/p>\n

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Here is a sermon that will assist with that: The Meaning of Atonement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jesus is the Atonement.<\/p>\n

Christians do not need to twirl a chicken.<\/p>\n

We have Day of Atonement services with links.<\/p>\n

Here is a suggested Day of Atonement service for our scattered brethren and other interested people:<\/p>\n