Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef Urges Money Over Chickens for Yom Kippur Ritual

Ahead of Yom Kippur, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef, has issued a religious ruling advising against the traditional 'Kaparot' ritual using live chickens when it may cause animal suffering. Instead, he strongly recommends performing the ritual with money, which can then be donated to charity.

Rabbi Yosef acknowledged the historical significance of the Kaparot custom, practiced by Jewish communities for generations. However, he emphasized that performing a religious observance cannot justify violating other Jewish laws, particularly the prohibition against causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

He specifically warned about the conditions often found at mass Kaparot sites, where chickens are held in inadequate enclosures without sufficient shade, food, or water, and where slaughter may lack proper rabbinical and veterinary oversight. "One who performs this commandment with the transgression of animal cruelty, we fear they are not performing the custom at all, but rather transgressing a Torah prohibition against animal cruelty," Yosef stated.

Therefore, when it cannot be ensured that the chickens are handled and slaughtered according to Jewish law and without suffering, Rabbi Yosef ruled that the Kaparot ritual should be performed using money. He noted that his father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, also adopted this practice in his later years, directing the money to charity.

Rabbi Yosef suggested that individuals donate an amount equivalent to the cost of a chicken, approximately 35 shekels, according to their ability. He concluded his letter with a prayer for a good and peaceful inscription for all of Israel.