27
Sep
Bess’s exciting adventure
If you had the chance to transfer all of your sins for the entire year to a chicken, wouldn’t you do it? Kapparot is your chance! This is a thought that some Orthodox Jews had 1000+ years ago and one that still is found today. Yesterday I went with a group of classmates to view this yearly ritual that takes place right before Yom Kippur. Our first reaction upon entering the enclosed area was shock. It’s not often that you see hundreds of chickens stacked in crates or being waved over the heads of adults and children alike. My greatest wish is that tumblr had an option to add odor so you too could have the full Kapparot experience.
Ethan was the only one among the crowd brave enough to try his hand at Kapparot. It went down like this, he bought a chicken, held its wings, and waved it around all of us while saying a blessing asking for our sins to be transferred to the chicken. Once he was finished he took his chicken to the Shochet (the ritual slaughterer) who does what his title entails, and then donates the chicken to a poor family.
I still haven’t figured out how I feel about this whole experience, but check on the NPR story that is also posted to hear more.
