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

According to Let the Animals Live, those prohibiting the practice include some of Israel’s largest cities, such as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Rishon Lezion, Petah Tikva, Beersheba and Ashkelon.

New additions this year are the towns of Tel Mond, Yeruham, Mevaseret Zion and Yavne. They join the large cities, along with Kiryat Bialik, Kfar Saba, Ra’anana and Ramle.

The ritual involves reciting a brief prayer while swinging a live chicken above one’s head three times in the belief that this transfers one’s sins to the chicken ahead of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. The chicken is then slaughtered and given to the poor.

Those who prefer not to use a live chicken have long swung money above their heads, and then donated it to charity, an alternative many, including Let the Animals........

© The Times of Israel