Posted on 09/17/2010 5:38:00 AM PDT by decimon
JERUSALEM (Reuters Life!) A ritual sacrifice of chickens that are also twirled about one's head to atone for sins ahead of the Yom Kippur holiday has come under fire in Israel where animal activists want it outlawed.
The custom known in Hebrew as "kaparot" is commonly practiced by Ultra Orthodox Jews before the annual Day of Atonement, a 25-hour period of fasting and prayer observed by Jews the world over starting at sunset Friday.
In Israel, where a majority of Jews view themselves as secular or non-observant, a small group of Ultra Orthodox has angered the wider public by slaughtering chickens to cleanse themselves of sin.
Many spin the chickens above their heads either before or after they are butchered, and utter a traditional prayer for forgiveness, calling the doomed bird "my substitute, my atonement" to help usher in a "long life in peace."
The slaughtered animals are generally donated to the poor for consumption. Many Jews observe the ancient ritual by means of coins or goods spun about the head instead of chickens.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
” and utter a traditional prayer for forgiveness, calling the doomed bird “my substitute, my atonement” to help usher in a “long life in peace.”
A chicken is used because “gever” can mean both “chicken” and “man”; ergo, a sinless “man” is given as the substitute and atonement.
How about for dinner?
What is kapparot?
Kapparot is a custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl. It is practiced by some Jews shortly before Yom Kippur. First, selections from Isaiah 11:9, Psalms 107:10, 14, and 17-21, and Job 33:23-24 are recited; then a rooster (for a male) or a hen (for a female) is held above the person's head and swung in a circle three times, while the following is spoken: "This is my exchange, my substitute, my atonement; this rooster (or hen) shall go to its death, but I shall go to a good, long life, and to peace." The hope is that the fowl, which is then donated to the poor for food, will take on any misfortune that might otherwise occur to the one who has taken part in the ritual, in punishment for his or her sins.
Reminds me of an old joke, and no disrespect intended.
A Jewish farmer came in from the fields at the end of the day. His wife reminded him that the next day they would be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, and asked that he kill a chicken.
The farmer replied “A chicken should die for something that happened 25 years ago?”
While this has been a fun thread, everybody seems to be missing the point.
Animal Rights Activists are INTERFERING in the HUMAN RIGHT of Freedom of Religion.
So Which comes first.
HUMAN RIGHTS?
or Animal Rights?
Especially when we are not speaking of a particularly sentient and magnificent creature like a Dolphin or a Golden Retriever, but a CHICKEN!
Animal Rights Activists are INTERFERING in the HUMAN RIGHT of Freedom of Religion.
It also points to divisions within Israel. The Jewish religion is hardly monolithic.
Well, okay, not so hardly monolithic. :-)
You’ll forgive me if I don’t get too outraged over the human right to twirl a dead chicken around one’s head.
It began after YHvH destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. Which occurred forty years after the Lamb of G-d was slain for our sins. Call on YHvH's slain Lamb for your salvation. Do not kill a chicken ! Call on the NAME of the Lamb of G-d for salvation. Call on the NAME of Yah'shua (YHvH is my salvation)Not quite timeless.
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass,
Today is Erev Yom Kippur.
[that] whosoever shall call on the name of YHvH shall be delivered:
for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
as YHvH hath said, and in the remnant whom YHvH shall call.
on this Yom Kippur.
At least not for atonement reasons.
Chicken meat is murder...and murder is tasty breaded and deep-fried.
No, I think Samson was the only one who twirled goats.
Anyway most used a knife to kill goats.
My point is that the sinless man has already been sacrificed. The sinner need only recognize that and go to Christ for his forgiveness. The need for other sacrifice ended a couple thousand years ago.
My grandma taught me that wringing the neck is preferable to head chopping.
Personally, if I return to those days, I’ll just pick out the birdshot.
Timeless custom known as scapegoating. They surely twirled goat overhead, back when men were men.
ACTUALLY, AS DESCRIBED IN LEVITICUS CH. 16, ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT (OR JUST PRIOR TO IT), 2 GOATS WERE TO BE SELECTED, WITH ONE BEING SACRIFICED, AND THE OTHER GOT AN AUDIENCE WITH THE HIGH PRIEST (OR, BACK IN SINAI, with AARON), WHO PUT HIS HANDS ON THE GOAT’S HEAD, AND ‘PLACED’ ALL THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE ONTO THE GOAT, AND THEN THE GOAT WAS TAKEN TO THE WILDERNESS (”AZAZEL” IN HEBREW) AND LET GO. IINM, THAT’S THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM “SCAPEGOAT.” DON’T KNOW ABOUT SWINGING THE GOAT OVER ONE’S HEAD, THOUGH. MAYBE SAMSON DID IT. ;> D
>>Theres another way?<<
Ronnie Earle, Travis Co. (TX) DA, Dances Naked With Other Men While Beating Cooked Chickens
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1907593/posts?
Eh, only if you believe in that sort of tripe.
Judaism doesn’t proselytize, so be a good Christian and obey the Golden Rule “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. And they’ve already shown you how they expect to be treated by not proselytizing you to convert to Judaism.
Return that in kind.
...has come under fire in Israel where animal activists want it outlawed.Do *not* file this story under "choose your battles"...
Many Jews don’t, but some do.
Do you believe in a Messiah as Prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures?
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