Shas leader calls for caution with kapparot ritual - Haaretz

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Last update - 02:02 17/09/2007

Shas leader calls for caution with kapparot ritual

By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent

Shas movement spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is worried about unsupervised slaughter of chickens as part of the kapparot ritual ahead of Yom Kippur.

The ancient ceremony involves swinging a live chicken overhead in a ritual transferance of the person's sins in preparation for the day of atonement. It may be performed anytime between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Speaking Saturday at his Jerusalem synagogue, Hayazdim, Yosef warned that overworked ritual slaughterers wind up using flawed blades that are not deemed "perfectly sharp."

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"If it is not perfectly sharp, it is not only non-kosher but nevela," he said, using the term for the carcass of a kosher animal not killed in accordance with Jewish law and therefore forbidden for consumption.

Despite the modern custom of using money in place of chicken and then giving it to charity, many ultra-Orthodox Jews continue to use chickens and slaughter them before giving the kosher meat to charity.

American rabbis also have expressed reservations about the proper slaughter of these animals, prompted by a complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A report by PETA about cruelty toward chickens before Yom Kippur led a group of Hasidic rabbis to discuss reducing the animals' suffering. The U.S. edition of the Orthodox publication Hamodia ran an editorial calling for greater supervision of the slaughter.

Yosef said that Rabbi Joseph Caro "is against this thing," citing the author of the Shulhan Arukh, or Code of Jewish Law, who considered kapparot a pagan ritual. However, Yosef refrained from banning the custom. He made do with calling on those who wish to perform the ceremony to do so early to prevent overloading the ritual slaughterers, and "also to go to God-fearing slaughterers who are kosher."

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1.	this is Jewish, let it be,	05:52	\|	akiva P	17/09/07

2.	What happened to the fish my zahde used	06:27	\|	Lukas	17/09/07

3.	kosherizes what is convenient for him	06:54	\|	Sandy	17/09/07

4.	swing the chicken	08:18	\|	Jack	17/09/07

5.	1 - then "jewish" here does not equal torah	08:38	\|	matt	17/09/07

6.	pagan ritual indeed	08:59	\|	L	17/09/07

7.	Kapparot ritual	09:25	\|	Sam Popack	17/09/07

8.	to his credit	09:26	\|	Michael	17/09/07

9.	Pagan custom	09:30	\|	Esther	17/09/07

10.	For akiva #1	09:33	\|	Esther	17/09/07

11.	From humans, to animals to prayer	10:55	\|	Shiloh	17/09/07

12.	If the Rabbi wants to choke his chicken, let him	10:56	\|	B`galil	17/09/07

13.	rituals from the dark ages, yak !	12:32	\|	Rachelle	17/09/07

14.	For b`galil #12	12:43	\|	Esther	17/09/07

15.	Ghastly ritual	12:48	\|	Joshua Rosenburg	17/09/07

16.	#15 Joshua Rosenburg	17:48	\|	* BEN JABO	17/09/07

17.	Nothing new. Rabbis always warn of this issue	18:21	\|	Jewboy	17/09/07

18.	those who love calves but hate men	18:26	\|	Joe Jew	17/09/07

19.	Esther and choking	18:30	\|	Joanna	17/09/07

20.	#2 and fishy	22:39	\|	Jewboy	17/09/07

21.	Amazing how all the hate emerges.	22:42	\|	Another Jew	17/09/07

22.	#10 Esther - you do eat meat don`t you??	23:57	\|	* BEN JABO	17/09/07

23.	#13 Rachelle - the meat is eaten	00:00	\|	* BEN JABO	18/09/07

24.	Jewboy	00:07	\|	Lukas	18/09/07

25.	Another Jew	00:12	\|	* BEN JABO	18/09/07

26.	Ben jabo Correct yet look deeper	08:33	\|	Jewboy	18/09/07

27.	Lukas , fish, and origins of family tradition	08:36	\|	Jewboy	18/09/07

28.	#27 Jewboy - when they came to America	21:15	\|	* BEN JABO	19/09/07

29.	Jewboy - better yet	21:03	\|	* BEN JABO	21/09/07

30.	#15 Joshua Rosenberg (yeah I`ll bet)	00:08	\|	* BEN JABO	23/09/07

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