"Some of our nation's healthiest animal husbandry practices and laws originated in the ancient traditions of the Torah. Nowhere is the practice of Kapparot even mentioned in the Torah. It is a pagan tradition that has been muddled into the religious practices of a small Jewish sect. Kapparot should have no place in the 21st Century Los Angeles community."

Kapparos or Kaparot is a traditional Jewish religious ritual that takes place around the time of the High Holidays. Classically, it is performed by swinging a live chicken around one's head three times, symbolically transferring one's sins to the chicken. The chicken is then slaughtered and donated to the poor, to be eaten at the pre-Yom Kippur feast.

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.

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

This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. (This rooster 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.

"No person shall engage in, participate in, assist in, or perform animal sacrifice. No person shall own, keep, possess or have custody of any animal with the purpose or intention of using such animal for animal sacrifice. No person shall knowingly sell, offer to sell, give away or transfer any animal to another person who intends to use such animal for animal sacrifice. 'Animal sacrifice' means the injuring or killing of any animal in any religious or cult ritual or as an offering to a deity, devil, demon or spirit, wherein the animal has not been injured or killed primarily for food purposes, regardless of whether all or any part of such animal is subsequently consumed."

The First Amendment "Freedom of Religion" does protect animal sacrifices except when a municipality or state has an existing animal cruelty statute that forbids it. If the religious sacrifice of an animal violates that statute, then the city or state can prosecute that act. If the animals as in this case were cared for, used or killed in a way that violates California's existing anti-cruelty statutes, then the defendants will not be able to fall back on the First Amendment as a defense. They would be guilty of animal cruelty which is punishable by a fine and/or jail time.

We picked it because a friend goes to this temple and has been begging them to stop this ritual for years. Jewish vegetarians and Jewish animal activists will be picketing the temple. They do this all over LA I hate to say. There are temples off La Brea and Fairfax that do it. They do it in the valley. Just drive around an orthodox Jewish neighborhood and you will see the shacks. We will also march down to Elal market that was selling coupons to the event, then we'll march over to the Jewish high school down the street that also performs the ritual. We are all law abiding, polite professionals. I will be in a full chicken costume. I'll send you some pics of the event.

We were there on Wednesday begging them to use money instead of a live chicken. The Rabbi called a Jewish woman picketer who goes to that temple a "whore." Then he said "Fuck you!" and gave us the finger. The Rabbis assistant grabbed a picketers video camera and broke part of it then ran down the street. The kids at the high school yelled "Kill more chickens! Go fuck yourself!" I was totally floored to hear such words from religious people. The chickens are in these tiny carriers with no food or water. There is poop all over them. They don't even clean their cages.