Do you do kapparos? Why?

naturemom

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 10:33 am

There has been some speculation that kapparos is not the holy minhag we have been taught it is.
Rather that it has evolved into a big deal but the origins are actually witchcraft.
What do you know of this?
If it turned out that, like the shlissel challah, its origins are christian, would you continue to do it anyway? Or stop completely?

wifenmother

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 11:15 am

I wonder where that 'speculation' originates from. Perhaps the speculation stems from a foreign source?

To me, kaparos is a holy minhag that I know with certainty was passed down for many generations. It is referenced and discussed in many seforim that were authored by people holier and greater than me. I would continue to do it anyway.

chani8

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 11:18 am

Yeah, I can imagine it's got it's origins from the dark ages. What did you learn, OP? Is it discussed in the gemorah at all?

I would have no problem dropping that custom and just giving tzedaka. I think the tzedaka is the holy part of it.

eta We only use money for this.

Last edited by chani8 on Mon, Sep 09 2013, 4:03 pm; edited 1 time in total

doctorima

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 12:10 pm

I'm not into this revisionist challenging of minhagim which have been around for generations and were certainly practiced by holy people in recent generations. DH and the kids enjoy it, so I go along to, even if I've never been wild about having a chicken over my head, and don't intend to stop.

pizza4

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 12:51 pm

amother wrote:

We gave it up, mostly because of tzaar baalei chayim. We do the "ritual" with money.

How is the chicken getting hurt here

And why anon

pause

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 1:37 pm

I do kapparos.
I do it because my mother and my father do it and their mother and their father did it and their mother and their father did it...

Now I can go check out what is the reason behind it.

Ruchel

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 4:11 pm

Some customs the non jews took from us.
Some customs derive from sources Jews and non jews respected.
And some things, yes, we have taken and elevated into kedusha: thing of music of niggunim, think of Yiddish/ladino words and names- even the gedolim would use them, when originally they belonged to non Jews.

I don't like the idea of kapparos chicken- but had it been my husband's family minhag I would have dealt with it somehow. The source doesn't matter to me, once there is a mesora.

doctorima

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 4:34 pm

chani8 wrote:

Hey, what's shlissel challah?

The minhag of baking challah on the Shabbos immediately after Pesach either in the shape of a key, or with a key baked inside, which is considered to be a segulah for parnassah.

pause

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 4:37 pm

naturemom wrote:

I'm really curious where you got that from.

Ruchel

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 4:41 pm

There was an article on it. I don't know how much I believe it. But even if it did, wouldn't stop me (I'm of heimish descent but this is not at all our minhag- I mean, if it was!).

mille

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 5:02 pm

pause wrote:

naturemom wrote:

I'm really curious where you got that from.

Here you go: http://www.alfassa.com/shlissel_challah.pdf

groisamomma

Mon, Sep 09 2013, 5:39 pm

mille wrote:

pause wrote:

naturemom wrote:

I'm really curious where you got that from.

Here you go: http://www.alfassa.com/shlissel_challah.pdf

His source for that tidbit is from a book written in 1968 and we have no idea where that author took the tidbit from. Confused

I do kapparos because my parents and their parents did before them and so did dh's parents and grandparents also. Oh, and because why should I keep my aveiros if I can give them all to the chicken? Wink

Bruria

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 5:39 pm

I used to do it, and stopped after I learned that this minhag does not have a base in an halacha and therefore I prefer to abstain.

Bruria

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 5:42 pm

mille wrote:

pause wrote:

naturemom wrote:

I'm really curious where you got that from.

Here you go: http://www.alfassa.com/shlissel_challah.pdf

Also heard that the shissel challah origin is christian!! I never did it, but I mentioned this to my husband who is very interested in discovering origin of customs, and he found out the same thing! We have to be very very careful in not adding!!

Liba

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 6:33 pm

The chicken doesn't die for your sins, it dies to be eaten.

It is shechted the same as any other kosher chicken. It is not tzar ba'alei chaim unless the people caring for the chickens aren't doing their jobs properly chv"sh.

cs1

Wed, Sep 11 2013, 7:48 pm

amother wrote:

We gave it up, mostly because of tzaar baalei chayim. We do the "ritual" with money.

so does that mean your family is vegetarian? Or how about fish - its most certainly tzar baalei chaim to take fish out of the water and kill them. I guess your family doesnt eat that either...