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<font size=3>At 03:08 AM 08/08/2007, R. Harry wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> <br>
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. <br>
<br>
That generated the following thought on my part. <br>
<br>
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?<br>
<br>
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<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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. <br>
</blockquote>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.<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
"The meeting, which took place in the Novominsk beis medrash in
Borough Park, focused on three areas of concern.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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." <br><br>
Action, not delegation is called for. <br><br>
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Yitzchok Levine</font></body>
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