Kapparot

The pre-Yom Kippur kapparot (kaporos) ritual as practised and organised by Chabad-Lubavitch, and the animal-welfare, public-health and legal disputes around it

Kapparot (also kaparot or kaporos, "atonements") is a custom performed before Yom Kippur. Either a live chicken or money is passed over the head while a prayer is recited, and the chicken or its value is then given to charity. This page covers the custom as Chabad-Lubavitch explains and organises it, mainly in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and the disputes around it:

• objections from animal-welfare groups;
• public-health complaints and the New York City Health Department's response;
• two court cases, one in California in which a Chabad centre was the named defendant, and one in New York.

Chabad's explanation of the custom

Chabad.org (Chabad-side) describes kapparot as "a widespread Jewish custom" since late Talmudic times. A chicken is passed over the head three times, and "The chicken is then slaughtered in a humane fashion in accordance with the laws of kashrut". The chicken is "discreetly donated to a charitable cause", or "the chicken is sold and its value donated". It adds that "Some use a live kosher fish; others perform the entire rite with money". A second Chabad.org text, by Eliyahu Kitov, says that "one should not think that kapparot themselves serve as a source of atonement". Instead, they bring a person "to the awareness that he might very well be deserving of death because of his sins", so that "he will thereby be motivated to repent".

Kapparot in Crown Heights

In Crown Heights, kapparot with live chickens is organised by the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE). The New York Jewish Week described it in 2020 as "A Brooklyn-based, Chabad-Lubavitch-run charity". Its chairman, Rabbi Shea Hecht, said NCFJE had been "sponsoring kapparos for 40 years". That year it offered home delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic at a requested donation of $20 per chicken. The paper also reported that animal-rights groups had written to Mayor Bill de Blasio, complaining that the ritual was being performed in breach of COVID-19 guidance on gatherings. According to CrownHeights.info (Chabad-side), when Rabbi J. J. Hecht expanded the practice in the early 1970s, "the Rebbe gave him much encouragement and asked for details of the operation, including the number of birds sold, the expenses, shechita and who took part". The same report said chickens were sold outside NCFJE's offices on Eastern Parkway at a subsidised $5 for Crown Heights residents.

Animal-welfare objections

The Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos holds an annual protest in Crown Heights. In 2019 its campaign strategist, Jill Carnegie, told Gothamist (critical) that the birds "are left without access to food and water, they are left exposed to the elements sometimes for days at a time". Rina Deych, a founding member, said of the chicken custom: "It's not in the Torah, it's not in the Talmud".

In 2018 ABC7 reported a protest vigil in Crown Heights. An opponent of the ritual told the station: "Kaporos is a custom, it is not a law ... They're not getting food and water, and they aren't getting it for several days." A participant, Shlomy Ceitlin, said: "I do what God wants and when other people think otherwise that doesn't make a difference to me." Evan R. Bernstein, the Anti-Defamation League's regional director, said that protests "should never cross the line into verbal threats, anti-Semitic rhetoric, or physical violence".

Public health

Opponents have argued that outdoor slaughter in the street endangers public health. In 2018 campaigners protested outside the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). The department's position has been consistent. In 2018 its press secretary stated: "Key here is that we have not found Kaporos to be a significant public health threat ... Our surveillance has shown no increase in illness in the area. Further, this ritual is an important practice for some Orthodox Jews." In 2019 a spokesperson said that "The NYC Health Department maintains that the annual Kaporos ritual does not pose a significant threat to human health".

Editor's note: the contamination and disease claims in the litigation below were the plaintiffs' allegations, supported by an expert affidavit. No court made findings on them, and no DOHMH report linking kapparot to an outbreak was found.

Litigation

United Poultry Concerns v. Chabad of Irvine (California)

Status: dismissed; no ruling on the merits. In 2016 the animal-welfare group United Poultry Concerns sued Chabad of Irvine and its head, Rabbi Alter Tenenbaum, in federal court. The group claimed that, by accepting payment for chickens killed in the ritual, Chabad of Irvine had breached California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL). The claim relied on Penal Code section 597(a). In May 2017 District Judge André Birotte Jr. dismissed the suit. JTA reported that he found kapparot to be "a religious ritual supported by donations, not a 'business act' covered by the unfair competition law".

On 20 November 2018 the Ninth Circuit (Gould and Murguia JJ, and Amon J sitting by designation) held in an unpublished memorandum that the plaintiff "lacked Article III standing". It therefore vacated the district court judgment "and remand[ed] with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction". The court found that the group's spending on investigating the ritual resulted "not from actions taken by [Defendant], but rather [Plaintiffs'] own budgetary choices".

Editor's note: because the appeal court vacated the district court judgment for lack of jurisdiction, neither court ruled on whether Chabad of Irvine's practice was lawful or cruel. JTA also reported a separate 2015 state-court suit by the Animal Protection and Rescue League. This page has not found that suit's outcome or whether a Chabad body was a party to it.

Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos v. New York City Police Department (New York)

Status: dismissed against the city defendants; no finding that the ritual was unlawful. In 2015 the Alliance and Brooklyn residents sued the city, the NYPD and the DOHMH. They also sued Orthodox rabbis and institutions in Kings County. They asked for mandamus to compel enforcement of health and animal-cruelty laws. On 6 June 2017 the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed the dismissal of the case against the city by 3–2. The majority said: "Although they may be upsetting to nonadherents of such practice, the United States Supreme Court has recognized animal sacrifice as a religious sacrament and decided that it is protected under the Free Exercise Clause". It held that "mandamus does not lie where, as here, plaintiffs seek to compel the enforcement of laws and regulations implicating discretionary actions". Gesmer J, dissenting with Andrias JP, would have let the mandamus claim proceed. On 14 November 2018 the Court of Appeals affirmed. It held that "mandamus is not the appropriate vehicle for the relief sought" because enforcement "would involve some exercise of discretion". Agudath Israel of America filed an amicus brief supporting the city.

Editor's note: the Appellate Division describes the non-city defendants only as Orthodox rabbis and institutions in Kings County. This page has not confirmed that any Chabad body was a named defendant. The case is included because the Alliance's campaign centres on Crown Heights, where the NCFJE ritual is held.

See also

• Eruv
• Public menorahs
• Crown Heights riot
• Mitzvah campaigns