Religious Liberty at Risk: California Judge Bans Jewish Ritual

For as long as I can remember, the day before Yom Kippur involved the Jewish practice of Kapparot, a sacrificial form of atoning for one’s sins.

Here’s how Kapparot typically done: you buy a chicken for yourself- male or female depending on your identifiable gender- and the day before Yom Kippur, have it waved over your head three times while ceremoniously announcing that the chicken will die for your sins. Then, you take the chicken to a kosher butcher, who will perform a kosher slaughter of the chicken and you get to choose what you want done next with the dead chicken. Most people donate it to charity. Some cook it and eat it before the Yom Kippur fast.