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Ah, Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. What better way to spend the eve of the holiday than by slaughtering an animal? The NY Times reports that the tradition of kaparot--"Orthodox Jews take live chickens, swing them over their heads as a means of symbolically transferring sins to the chickens, and then slaughter them"-- is attracting protest. Rabbi Hecht (whose father revived the tradition) says he received threats via email, phone and letters. His number one suspect, PETA, denied the accusation, met with Hecht, and says, “If anyone is really sending threatening or anti-Semitic e-mails, that is both immoral and counterproductive. It’s unfortunate when someone hands an animal abuser cause for self-righteousness.” How much does it cost to slaughter a chicken? Just $2 for Hecht's Crown Heights congregation (he bought in bulk). After slaughtered, they go uneaten and, in the past, have actually been shoved in to traffic cones once killed (video here).
Brooklyn Rabbi Threatened Over Inhumane Kaparot Practices
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the cops have busted the block of canal street near pearl paint.
I talked to them and they said that
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How about chocking ones chicken?
I usually skip posts like these,
they do this to 50,000 chickens and they go uneaten afterwards. unbelievable.
I thought they perfected chicken soup for the soul.
all sounds pretty kosher to me.
Let the judgment begin.
Sounds like a total waste. Why can't they accept their sins?
at least he's not gyping his customers at $2 per chicken. not a bad price to pay for transferring one's sins to the chicken.
What a waste. Couldn't they at least donate the chickens to food pantries afterward? Although I suppose there's the liability issue.
If you want to stop the slaughter of chickens just raise the price to $2.10. see what jew will buy them then.
would you buy one babyhitler?
Says a lot for atheism.
how about rubber chickens?
barbarism
Religion is stupid.
I thought that some congregations donate the chickens to food shelters. I read so in "The Year of Living Biblically"--perhaps the author was full of it?
Orthodox Jews are the worst.
The orthodox get away with way too much. These are religious extremists. But b/c a politician can't win in Brooklyn w/out the support of a grand Rebbe, who has control over thousands of blind sheep and tells them how to vote, nobody says anything.
This is cruelty to animals. They treat their women like possessions. They protest billboards in their neighborhoods that show a little skin. They ban gays from their community. They believe that their Rabbi is god and that whirling an animal around one's head will make God forgive you.
These people have no place in a modern society. I'm sure there's a hillside in Afghanistan or some nice cold steppe in Central Russia where we can set these people up in to live their 12th century lifestyles.
why are the chickens shoved into traffic cones? is this the slaughter method? that's what it appears to be per the video, then they throw them either in a dumpster or trash bags.
This is just retarded.
cultural/religious sensitivity, sure. If this were just a rabbi up in front slicing a couple chickens and saying the magic words, no problem, i wouldn't think twice.
but according to that video, they couldn't have done a better job if they had hijacked A handful of those massive shit-stinking chicken trucks that drive through the city at 3 in the morning and put them straight through a huge (truck accommodating) wood chipper.
Religion is retarded.
Animal cruelty, plain and simple. This is just as bad as Santeria and their animal sacrifices.
From the NYT article:
According to some rabbis, the kaparot custom may trace its origins to the destruction of the Holy Temple, when the high priest chose one of two goats on Yom Kippur through a lottery and designated it to absorb the sins of the people of Israel.
So even according to the ancient tradition, they don't need to slaughter all these animals. It's a cruel and wasteful practice.
Why do they need to slaughter those chickens for religion? it's cause of religion they need to slaughter chickens. If I had a religion they better do some wacky insane parting of the red sea tomfoolery to keep me there. Christianity has heaven, Arabs have virgins, and jews have chicken blood. Sure it's low rent but it's better than scientology's body thetan crap. How else do you think those jew dudes can control their women? women get scared when a dude can snap a chicken's neck. I always wonder why the women walk behind the men so meekly and obedient.
Oy vey
"Couldn't they at least donate the chickens to food pantries afterward? Although I suppose there's the liability issue."
Exactly. Not only would they be dirty and not properly slaughtered, the chickens would be filled with sin. And not your regular daily run of the mill sin, JEWISH sin! We can't feel our homeless sinful chicken.
It cracks me up that in most serious religions that you can do something like this and then be free of your sins. I say face your sins and deal with them..... and then eat the chicken.
Religulous!
Sin for a sin. I hope they all come back as worms ate by chickens.
Why can't everyone just transfer their sins to one enormous, absorbant superchicken?
And then kill it -- quickly -- before it enslaves humanity.
from nytimes "Some have suggested alternatives to chickens, such as fish, or a charitable contribution."
it's ok to swing_over_your_head_and_kill fish 'cuz they don't have any feel-ings
i, for one, welcome our new sin-filled enormous, absorbant superchicken overlords.
Anyone seen that San Diego Chicken lately? I bet he could absorb a whole lot of sins before we snap his neck.
Maybe Hitler had a point after all...
If only there were some sort of ancestral homeland where all of these nutjobs could move to and practice their nonsense....oh wait.
religions are LAME, violent, and actually bring hell to earth
killing a chicken to eat...depends, but ok...killing a chicken because you couldn't resist all those times you got sucked off on Kent Ave. by a hooker that "kidnapped" you...? .... Priceless?
This should be serious cause for concern for any animal rights group.
It's unfair, barbaric and utterly without any merit beyond some imaginary spiritual value that could easily substitute a live animal for a different object.
@ the Hitler comment, please don't Godwin the conversation, thanks.
as a jew who was raised othodox, let me correct some inaccuracies:
the chickens are definitely supposed to be slaughtered afterwards and the meat given to charity,
many people use a bag of coins instead and then give it to charity,
and the chicken isn't "swung" its moved slowly above the person's head, i know b/c i have done this ritual.
Interesting thing about younger PETA supporters is while they're against totally against inhuman treatment of animals, they're also totally anti-abortion. It's a significant number from what I've read - PETA has a very large following in the Midwest and the Bible Belt. As we've seen from the current presidential debate there's still a disturbing amount of racism in those areas, as well as antisemitism. I wouldn't be surprised if the threats came out of the Midwest as a result.
swung, moved slowly, what's the diff?
any other inaccuracies? can you explain the traffic cones all in a row? obviously they have to be slaughtered, I mean what can one do with 50,000 live chickens? but really, the chickens should really be given afterwards as food.
at least he didnt kick it out the window.
Now if they would gas the chickens first, that would be humane.
This foolish 'ritual' is too stupid to even comment on. . .
1. As an atheist who was raised as an atheist: I would expect more tolerance from U.S. citizens towards any religious practices.
2. As a not U.S. citizen: look who is talking about waste!!!
3. As a PETA and GreenPeace supporter: what about chicken farms condition? Chickens you eat everyday are being raiser in absolutely horrifying conditions, that are absolutely incomparable in their cruelty with 5 minutes swinging session. And guess what: american consumerism has driven food industry into this conditions: more chickens no matter what!
4. I really hope Mr. McShithead will be the next one to rule, just to indicate the level of nation's degradation.
#44:
1. Tolerance of religious practices does not extend to tolerance of cruelty or abuse toward animals or humans. In addition, both Jewish religious authorities and Orthodox Jews themselves have weighed in on the issue (even in this comments thread) and have noted that the chickens are not required for this practice, and could be substituted by bags of coins or other materials. The practice had become obsolete until recently, which would suggest that it is neither a longstanding nor a necessary tradition.
2. U.S. citizens do not have a corner on wastefulness, the last time I looked.
3. The presence of inhumane factory farms does not mean that other cruel practices should be overlooked. Talk to workers at French foie gras farms or food workers in China, India or other countries, and then come back and tell me that America has the corner on cruel food production and farming again?
4. Not going to happen. Sorry. W.'s already taken care of that. Not all Americans are ignorant rednecks, as you seem to believe. There will be a lot of people voting blue this year.
#45:
1. Halal and Kosher slaughtering rituals are essentially the same.
Both of these religions are known for their respectfulness to life of animals. Studies have shown that animal is suffering far less from slit throat than from conventional bolt pistol method.
Kosher and Halal Slaughtering
2. According to the text book Environmental Science
USA is accountable for 30% of waste created worldwide. I blame consumerism for that one as well. For an experiment: go through you garbage and see how much of "waste" you actually could re-use or is in perfectly fine condition.
3. I have to admit that Foie gras is cruelty for leisure, as well as fur coats and leather shoes, or cowhide rug. Food industry in China and India is driven to madness by overpopulation, rather than consumerism, while US does not have such a problem as far as I know. The other thing is that good percentage these two countries cannot even afford meat everyday and do not have access to birth control (wasn't Ms. Sarah The Ho...ckey Mom opposing abortions just few days ago? "Back to Dark Ages policy" I call that)
4. New York City collected the most forward thinking minds and liberals in the country. I would not expect the same level of conscience from Mid West Catholics, Mormons, Protestants, Anglicans etc., etc. including Orthodox Jews from the same areas.
#46:
1. Kaparot is not the same as kosher/halaal slaughter for consumption. It is a ritual that, as mentioned, has no longstanding tradition and does not need to be performed with live animals, as per religious authority.
2. And there are other countries which have far greater environmental pollution and waste than the United States per capita. I don't know about you, but I don't purchase anything I don't need, I recycle everything, and there's nothing but trash in my trash.
In addition, this has nothing to do with the Kaparot practice. When many in NYC go hungry every day and this group decides to kill and discard 50,000 chickens for a needless religious ritual, one has the right to recognize it as wasteful and call it out. It would be far more socially conscious and compassionate if they used the bag-of-coins substitute or at least donated the dead chickens to soup kitchens, but they do not choose to do that.
3. Actually, a good percentage of people in India are vegetarian, and those who are not largely do not consume beef and pork. Any country's food industry is driven by the needs of its population; not consumerism. Some countries choose to do this in more humane ways than others. The bottom line is that the rest of the world isn't blameless while the big bad United States is horrible. Everyone's horrible.
4. Anglicans, huh? Anglicans/Episcopalians happen to be the most liberal Christians, other than Quakers, you can find. They're pro-choice, pro-LGBT, pro-gay marriage, feminist, environmentally conscious, and very much live-and-let-live.
this is waste therefor gluttony which is a sin. got it sinners you are going to hell. doing it in the name of religion you are going in a hot rod. wwjd?