Federal Judge Issues Restraining Order on Annual Kapparot Ritual

A Los Angeles Federal Court judge granted a temporary restraining order Friday preventing the performance of the Jewish ceremony of kapparot, an annual pre-Yom Kippur ritual in which a chicken is swung from its legs and then slaughtered.

U.S. District Judge Andre Birrote Jr. granted the order in response to a lawsuit filed last month on behalf of United Poultry Concerns against the Chabad of Irvine and an unnamed rabbi.

Kapparot is an ancient ritual practiced between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur during which a chicken is swung over the head and then slaughtered in a symbolic transference of a person’s sins in advance of the Jewish Day of Atonement.  The meat of the chicken is then donated to charity.  Some perform the ritual using money in place of a chicken, the money is donated to charity.

The judge set a hearing for Thursday in which Chabad Irvine will have the chance to contest a preliminary injunction that would prevent the ritual.  Yom Kippur begins on Tuesday evening and ends on Wednesday night so the injunction essentially prevents the ritual from being performed this year.

Lawsuits filed last year in suburban Detroit and New York City were decided in favor of performing the holiday ritual.