13 municipalities to bar use of live chickens in ‘kapparot’ ritual, animal rights org says

Thirteen Israeli municipalities have said they will not allow the use of live chickens in the traditional kapparot ritual before Yom Kippur, after an animal rights group called on municipal leaders to restrict the practice.

According to Let the Animals Live, the municipalities of Tel Mond, Yeruham, Mevaseret Zion and Yavne joined the initiative this year, and Kiryat Bialik and Rishon Lezion renewed commitments made last year.

They join Kfar Saba, Ra’anana, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Beersheba, Ashkelon, Ramle and Petah Tikva, which have prohibited the practice in their jurisdictions for years.

Kapparot is a pre-Yom Kippur tradition in which a person symbolically transfers their sins to a chicken, which is then slaughtered and given to the poor. The tradition also allows for money to be used instead and then donated to charity, an alternative many see as more humane and hygienic.

Conducting the kapparot service in public requires receiving a permit from the local veterinary department, whether or not slaughter takes place on site. Local authorities have the right to prohibit the use of live chickens for the ritual, the organization notes.

Kapparot should instead be performed by donating money to charity, Let the Animals Live suggests. The Environmental Protection Ministry has also made similar requests in the past.

“Yom Kippur embodies introspection, compassion and mercy,” says Yael Arkin, the organization’s CEO. “There is no justification for marking it through a practice involving fear and severe suffering to animals.”