Kaparot
By Rabbi Reuven Hammer
Among the more well-known but most controversial High
Holiday customs is Kaparot, which usually involves swinging a chicken over
one's head as a form of penance. Although, as this article shows, the custom
was opposed by many Jewish sages, it is still practiced today in many
traditionalist communities. This article is excerpted with permission from Entering
the High Holy Day. Reprinted with permission from the Jewish Publication Society.
Over the centuries, many customs have sprung up to enhance
the way in which we enter Yom Kippur, the final day of this season. Some of
these customs, such as flogging oneself to atone for sin, happily have been
forgotten. Others, such as immersion in a mikvah
to indicate a state of purity, are still practiced by some. The most well‑known
and yet most controversial of these customs is the practice of Kaparot, which literally means
"atonements," but in the sense of "ransom." Traditionally,
a rooster is swung around one's head and is then slaughtered while being
declared a "substitute" for the individual, as an atonement for his
or her sins. Like the Tashlikh ceremony
of Rosh Hashanah, Kaparotisa folk ceremony that may have had superstitious,
pagan origins. Rabbinic opposition to Kaparot
has been strong and remains so today.
Kaparot begins with the recitation of
biblical verses, starting with the Book of Psalms:
Some lived in deepest darkness, bound in
cruel irons ... (Ps. 107:10).
He brought them out of deepest darkness,
broke their bonds asunder ... (107:14).
There were fools who suffered for their
sinful way, and for their iniquities. All food was loathsome to them: They
reached the gates of death. In their adversity they cried to the Lord and He
saved them from their troubles. He gave an order and healed them; He delivered
them from the pits. Let them praise the Lord for His steadfast love, His
wondrous deeds for mankind (107:17‑21).
These
verses are followed by an additional excerpt from the Book of Job:
Then He has mercy on him and decreed,
"Redeem him from descending to the Pit, For I have obtained his
ransom" (33:24).
To
this is added the words: Life for life.
Prayers are then recited, indicating the function of the
rooster as a substitute for the individual. The rooster is twirled three times
around the head of each man; a hen is used for women. Both birds are then
slaughtered and given to the poor. Some people have substituted money, in this
ceremony, for the rooster or hen.
One
need not go as far as those scholars who see the Kaparot as originating in an
offering to Satan in order to understand the many objections to this ritual.
Kaparot follows the pattern of the scapegoat, a ritual of riddance, but comes
too close to superstition in indicating that one may substitute the death of an
animal for one's own life. Among those who objected to the ceremony were the
13th‑century Moses ben Nahman (the Ramban) and the 16th‑century
Rabbi Joseph Karo, who wrote in his great work the Shulchan Arukh: "The
custom of Kaparot ... is a practice that ought to be prevented." Needless
to say, the objections of great authorities were not sufficient to prevent this
ritual from becoming an accepted custom among the people.
Rabbi Reuven Hammer holds a Ph.D in theology from the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
He teaches Jewish studies and special education in Jerusalem.
Photo credit: JHM
Photography
