R' Harry Maryles wrote:
> What is the point of Shlugging Kaparos anyway? ... I never
> understood this custom. ... 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.

There is a presumption here that "Kaparah for Aveiros [is] all about 
doing Teshuva."

We need to examine this presumption. At least according to Rebbi 
(Yoma 85b), Yom Kippur is mechaper even without Teshuvah. I do not 
understand how that would work, which shows that there is something 
sorely lacking in my understanding of what kapparah is about, and how 
it works. If I understood it better, I might be able to apply it to 
waving chickens. But as things stand now, I'm stuck.

(In March 2001, we had a discussion here, not on how kapparah 
*works*, but on what the word kaparah *means*. To review that thread, 
go to http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/getindex.cgi?section=k#kapparah)

Akiva Miller