Kapparot
Kapparot ( Hebrew atonements ), beating kappores or waving chickens is a ritual performed by some of the Jews on the eve of the day of atonement ( Yom Kippur ). Here, as atonement, a live chicken is waved over a person's head and the chicken is then slaughtered.
Execution and history
A rooster or a hen is used, depending on the gender of the person. A pregnant woman takes both. White chickens are desired as a sign of the forgiveness of sins, but you can also do without them. Instead of chickens, coins can also be given to the poor. The chickens taken as atonement are then distributed to the poor.
The custom comes from the Jewish diaspora in medieval Persia in the seventh century. It is derived from a sentence in the Jewish prayer book because the Hebrew word גבר can mean both man and rooster . A rooster is thought of as a religious and spiritual representative for a person. You wave rooster or hen around your head and say three times: “This is my deputy. This is my trigger. This is my atonement. This chicken / or this rooster / is approaching death, but I am walking towards a good life and peace. ”Two chickens are enough for atonement for a whole family: one rooster for all male family members and one hen for all female members.
Jewish scholars such as Maimonides forbade this custom, also the Shulchan Aruch , because it was of pagan origin and could strengthen superstition. Other scholars such as Moses Isserles advocated Kapparot. The practice was widely accepted by the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe and has continued in recent times.
See also
literature
- Article Kappara . In: Georg Herlitz, Bruno Krischner (Ed.): Jüdisches Lexikon , Vol. 3: I – Ma . Athenäum Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 1987, ISBN 3-610-00400-2 (reprint of the Berlin 1927 edition).
- Israel Meir Lau : How Jews Live. Faith, everyday life, celebration . 7th edition Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2008, ISBN 978-3-579-02155-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Complete Jewish Bible by David H. Stern, 1998.