[Avodah] Kapparos? For PETA’s Sake!

[Prof. Levine]

At 03:08 AM 08/08/2007, R. Harry wrote:
>
>   There has been a discussion on Areivim about 
> a complaint registered by  the People for the 
> Ethical Treatment of Animals about Shluging 
> Kaparos. Dr. Levine mentioned in this context 
> that he recalled seeing something in Kashrus 
> Magazine about a year or two ago stating that a 
> number of Rabbonim had "condemned" the way 
> chickens used for Kapporos are often 
> mistreated. The chickens are kept in small 
> cages, are not fed, are left out in the rain, sun, etc.
>
>   That generated the following thought on my part.
>
>   What is the point of Shlugging Kaparos 
> anyway? I admit I'm an Am Ha'aretz on this 
> issue. I never understood this custom. We know 
> for example  that the Minhag of using live 
> chickens was frowned upon at one point because 
> of Darkei Amori. How did it now seep back into practice?
>
>   But as I said, the bigger issue for me is how 
> exactly this Minhag got started in the first 
> place? IIRC the Gemarah talks about it.  What 
> was the point of it?  Isn't Kaparah for
>   Aveiros all about doing Teshuva? ...and not 
> about transferring Averios onto a  chicken? I 
> doubt that this practice has it's origin in the 
> Torah. The Torah speaks of Karbanos on the 
> Mizbeach. Not chickens waved over the head 3 times and thrown on the floor.
>
>   Frankly this custom disturbs me. Not so much 
> because of  PETA says. I do not consider them a 
> reliable source of information on the 
> mistreatment of animals (although if what Dr. 
> Levine said is true, then that needs to be 
> rectified), but because it seems so ridiculous on the face of it.
>
The use of chickens for kapparos has become an 
"in thing" in Brooklyn in recent years, and I 
presume in other places. I believe that this is a 
direct result of the Chassidization of 
Yiddishkeit that one sees in many areas of 
Yahadus today. The yeshivas encourage their 
students to do kapporos with chickens. Some even 
take the younger students to a place where it is 
done with chickens as a class trip.

IMO, there is no question that what is going on 
in with this practice in many places is, to put 
it mildly, problematic. Someone wrote to me 
saying that he saw 20 cases of chickens that were 
left in front of a yeshiva over Yom Kippur last 
year all filled with dead chickens. They had died 
as a result of not being fed and the elements.

I posted the following on Areivim regarding a 
report of a meeting of rabbonim on this issue 
that took place this past Monday.  It was from Yeshiva World.

"The meeting, which took place in the Novominsk 
beis medrash in Borough Park, focused on three areas of concern.

The first was the fact that the ever-increasing 
number of chickens used for the rite has put 
unprecedented pressure on the shochtim who are 
relied upon to ensure that the birds are properly 
slaughtered.  What is more, there is no 
independent halachic oversight of the thousands 
of shechitos performed as parts of the public 
Kapporos that have become regular occurrences in 
many places of late.  Since the chickens used for 
Kapporos are traditionally given to the Jewish 
poor, the importance of ensuring that the 
shechitos are properly performed is paramount.

A second focus of the Rabbonim was on the 
potential for the spread of disease, considering 
that chickens and their waste harbor bacteria 
like Salmonella that, if ingested, can cause 
serious sickness.  Children in particular may not 
be aware of the importance of either wearing 
latex gloves or carefully and thoroughly washing 
their hands with anti-bacterial soap after 
touching the birds or their cages with bare 
hands.  An infectious disease specialist was 
present at the meeting, at the organizers´ 
invitation, and made a presentation to the gathering.

The final concern discussed by the Rabbonim was 
the possibility that, in the hubbub that tends to 
attend mass Kapporos gatherings, the prohibition 
of tzaar baalei chaim ­ causing unnecessary 
discomfort or pain to animals ­ might be 
compromised by vendors or participants."

Now each of the problems cited seem to me to 
involve possibly being over on a D’oreisa. Given 
this, how can a minhag, and one that is 
questionable according to some authorities, be 
allowed to be practiced by these rabbinical 
authorities. Should they not assur Kapporas with 
chickens until they have designed a full-proof 
method that avoids any possibility of being over 
a D'oreisa?  After all, in many other things that 
rabbonim feel are problematic from the standpoint 
of Yiddishkeit we see bans issued.

I do not understand why "The Rabbonim discussed 
each issue at length and decided to delegate to a 
smaller group the responsibility of drawing up a 
list of guidelines for Kapporos, to be submitted 
to the entire group for their appraisal and, when 
approved, to be disseminated to the community at 
large ­ in time for this year´s Yomim Noro´im, 
habo´im oleinu li´chapara u´litova."

Action, not delegation is called for.


Yitzchok Levine 
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