How to Practice Kapparot for Yom Kippur

Kapparot is an ancient ritual performed just prior to Yom Kippur, where a chicken or rooster is offered in exchange for atonement for one's sins and is then donated to charity. While modern versions replace the chicken or rooster with cash wrapped in a handkerchief, the message is the same: that our very lives are dependent upon asking forgiveness for our sins and committing acts of charity.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Handkerchief
• Chicken or rooster
• Cash
• A designated charity

Practice Kapparot for Yom Kippur

1. Locate a live chicken or rooster so that you can perform kapparot on Yom Kippur. Many markets in Jewish neighborhoods sell live chickens and roosters in the period between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur.

2. Wave the chicken or rooster over your head, and recite the prayer for kapparot: "This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement...this chicken will go to its death, while I enter and proceed to a good, long life and peace." The more traditional method is to say the prayer once, wave the chicken over your head, and then say it once more.

3. Slaughter the chicken or rooster, or have it done for you at the market where you purchased it.

4. Donate the chicken, or its equivalent cash value, to the poor. The idea behind the donation is that we may receive forgiveness for our sins if we do good deeds and give charity.

5. Substitute cash for the chicken, which is the more common way to practice kapparot in modern times, although Orthodox Jews maintain that the chicken is still a vital part of the ritual. Wrap the money (eighteen pieces, to symbolize life) in a white handkerchief, wave it over your head in the same manner as you would if you were using a chicken, and recite the prayer in exactly the same way. Then donate the money to a deserving charity.

Tips & Warnings

• White chickens and roosters are preferred, since it says in the Book of Isaiah that "if your sins be like scarlet, they will become as white as snow." Women should use a hen, and men should use a rooster, which should be white in color. Pregnant women should use one of each, in case they give birth to a male child.
• Note that while kapparot is a common practice in Judaism, it is frowned upon by some Jews since it is not mentioned specifically in the Talmud. Check with your rabbi or other members of your synagogue before you practice kapparot.

[dunerider]

on 5/16/2009 This is barbaric! If I wanted to swing a chicken over my head, I would take up voodoo. Here is an idea: instead of causing cruelty to an animal to atone for your sins, why not just give up sinning? If you can't do that, at least take responsibility for your own actions (i.e., your sinning).