Are you chicken?

Care of Wikipedia:

Hebrew: כפרות‎, "atonements") is a traditional Jewish religious ritual that takes place around the time of the High Holidays. Classically, it is performed by grasping a live chicken by the shoulder blades and moving around one's head three times, symbolically transferring one's sins to the chicken. The chicken is then slaughtered and donated to the poor, preferably eaten at the pre-Yom Kippur feast. Preferably, a man should use a rooster, and a woman should use a hen for the ritual.

In modern times, Kapparos is performed in the traditional form mostly in Haredi communities. Members of other communities tend to perform this ritual with charity money substituted for the chicken, swung over one's head in similar fashion.

The ritual is preceded by the reading of Psalms 107:17-20 and Job 33:23-24.

As the chicken (or money) is swung about the head, the following paragraph is traditionally recited three times:

This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. (This rooster (hen) will go to its death / This money will go to charity), while I will enter and proceed to a good long life and to peace.

Yes, I had a chicken swung over my head. After many years of hearing my parents say "Shlug a-kaapporis, Poi Poi Poi (that's "spit")!", I finally understood what my yiddishe-mama was talking about. Here are pics from the adventure in Mea Shearim. And yes, chicken shit did end up on my head. All in good fun.


Haredi guy going at it.


The look on the kid's face is classic.


Mother Clucker.


Here we go! Round one!


Round two!


Round three and a kiss for the clucker.