Animal Sacrifice in Judaism: Kapparot

It is commonly believed that animal sacrifice plays no part in modern Judaism and that animal sacrifices ended with the destruction of the second temple of Solomon in 70 A.D. by the Roman legions. Thus bringing to an end what Biblical scholars and archaeologists call the Second Temple period.

This is superficially true as Judaism forbids the ritual sacrifice of any animal or bird which was offered to Yahweh as a burnt offering in the temple. (1) However this does not preclude the sacrifice of any animal or bird that was not offered to Yahweh as a burnt offering in the temple and is considered to be ritually clean ('tahor'). (2)

From this it follows that if there is a suitable basis in jewish religious custom ('minhag') and some kind of justification in the Written and/or Oral Torah then animal sacrifices, which meet the above criteria can take place.

One prominent example of this is the practice of Kapparot (alternatively 'atonement', 'annulment' (3) or 'forgiveness' (4) depending on who you read) which involves the ritual sacrifice of a male or female chicken on the eve of Yom Kippur ('Erev Yom Kippur') by each individual jew (although it is also practiced by some on the day before Rosh Hashanah and/or Hoshana Rabbah. (5) A jewish man uses a cockerel/rooster, while a jewish woman uses a hen. (6) If a suitable chicken cannot be acquired for the ritual then other animals or birds that were not sacrificed as burnt offerings at the temple can be used. (7)

The live chicken (Hebrew: 'geber' [which can also mean 'man']) (8) is waved around the head of the individual concerned (a father can, for example, do it to his son or for himself, but each individual jew must do it) three times, (9) while the following prayer is recited:

'This is my substitute, this is my vicarious offering, this is my atonement. This cock will go to its death, but I shall have a long and pleasant life of peace.' (10)

The purpose of this prayer is to transfer all the sins that the individual jew has committed (which is why it needs to be done for every individual jew and not as a collective as with Kol Nidre) into the soul of the chicken so that the jew is free to begin the new jewish year without sin. Thus it acts as a classic scapegoat ceremony (11) to take away potential misfortune that might be suffered due to the failure to start the new year (in terms of the jewish religious calendar) without sin. (12)

The ritual performed: the live chicken is ritually slaughtered (per the dictates of shechita) and its meat, or the monetary value of that meat, distributed to the (jewish) poor. (13) The intestines however must be removed and fed to the birds and this is held to be an act of compassion for animals (by sacrificing another animal and feeding the resultant tripe to its relatives). (14)

Whether this can be reasonably be classed as a 'compassionate act' in any ethical way is another issue, but it is enough for our purposes here to point out that jews believe this to be true.

The kapparot ritual is now complete and the sins of the individual have been transferred into the chicken and expiated by a mitzvah (to be specific: charity to the jewish poor ['tzedakah']), but it is worth mentioning that in swinging the live chicken around the relevant party's head: the chicken cannot sustain any significant injuries according to the list provided by the Babylonian Talmud lest it become forbidden ('asur') (15) due to physical damage having being inflicted. (16)

You might be wondering why you haven't heard of this rite and the reason is that today it is largely confined to orthodox and ultra-orthodox jews (17) (who tend to ghettoize themselves and shun interaction with non-jews) as well as the fact that less strict jews have substituted the live chicken for money or abolished the ritual altogether. (18)

Never-the-less the rite is still popular among those who practice Kabbalah (especially the ultra-orthodox) and was (as the Kol Nidre prayer/service still is) (19) extremely popular among the jewish faithful until fairly recent times. (20)

However this popularity has not been reflected among rabbis with many major rabbinic figures - such as Nachmanides and Joseph Karo, opposing it, but with a few others (most significantly Moses Isserles [the Maharal]) being supportive. (21)

Part of the reason for this is that the kapparot rite has highly magical ideas associated with it: (22) one of these is that using a white chicken is believed to be particularly effective (based on a reading of Isaiah 1:8 and the Tractate Yoma in the Babylonian Talmud). (23) Thus it was believed by many rabbinical authorities to be pagan in origin and thus not a true part of Judaism. (24)

Compounding this is the fact that the rite is not known before the ninth century A.D. in Judaism: (25) although a twelfth century rabbi did argue it was probably derived from the rite of Azazel (cf. Lev. 16). (26)

We do however know of precursor rites in classical Judaism involving perforated pots ('parpisa') and wicker baskets filled with beans and vegetables, which were whirled seven times round the head of each member of the family (including children). (27)

Thus it is reasonable to suppose that the rite of kapparot was not innovated wholesale and does have some basis in Judaism (even just as custom/minhag), but what we can be sure about is that it is a form of animal sacrifice utilized by jews today of which people need to be aware (if only for the patent cruelty of swinging live chickens round your head before slicing their head off).

References

(1) Encyclopaedia Judaica, 'Kapparot' (1971, Vol. 10, Col. 756-757)

(2) Ibid.

(3) Ibid.

(4) Abraham Bloch, 1980, 'The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies', 1st Edition, Ktav: New York, p. 159

(5) Encyclopaedia Judaica, Op. Cit.

(6) Ibid.; Michael Strassfeld, 1985, 'The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary', 1st Edition, Harper & Row: New York, p. 112

(7) Encyclopaedia Judaica, Op. Cit.

(8) Ibid.

(9) Louis Jacobs, 1995, 'The Jewish Religion: A Companion', 1st Edition, Oxford University Press: New York, p. 299; Isaac Klein, 1979, 'A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice', 1st Edition, Jewish Theological Seminary of America: New York, p. 208; Strassfeld, Op. Cit., p. 112

(10) Jacobs, Op. Cit., p. 299

(11) Strassfeld, Op. Cit., p. 112

(12) Encyclopaedia Judaica, Op. Cit.; Bloch, Op. Cit., p. 159

(13) Jacobs, Op. Cit., p. 299; Klein, Op. Cit., p. 208

(14) Bloch, Op. Cit., pp. 159-160

(15) A concept commonly used in Judaism to denote disallowed activities/behaviours/states: on this see Donniel Hartman, 2007, 'The Boundaries of Judaism', 1st Edition, Continuum: New York

(16) Bloch, Op. Cit., pp. 90; 95

(17) Encyclopaedia Judaica, Op. Cit.; Jacobs, Op. Cit., p. 299

(18) Klein, Op. Cit., p. 208; Strassfeld, Op. Cit., p. 112

(19) Bloch, Op. Cit., p. 174

(20) Encyclopaedia Judaica, Op. Cit.; Klein, Op. Cit., p. 208

(21) Jacobs, Op. Cit., p. 299; Myer Lew, 1944, 'The Jews of Poland: Their Political, Economic, Social and Communal Life in the Sixteenth Century as reflected in the Works of Rabbi Moses Isserls', 1st Edition, Edward Goldston: London, pp. 162-163

(22) Strassfeld, Op. Cit., p. 112

(23) Encyclopaedia Judaica, Op. Cit.

(24) Bloch, Op. Cit., p. 159; Jacobs, Op. Cit., p. 299

(25) Bloch, Op. Cit., p. 159

(26) Ibid.

(27) Ibid., pp. 159-160