Jerusalem Children Observe Pre-Yom Kippur 'Kaparot' Ritual

Children in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood were documented performing the "Kaparot" ritual, a tradition observed during the Ten Days of Repentance leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The custom involves swinging a chicken, typically white, over one's head while reciting a prayer, symbolically transferring sins to the bird. The practice is a common observance among some Orthodox Jewish communities.

Photographs captured the young participants engaging in the ritual on the streets of the predominantly Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) neighborhood. The white chickens used in the ceremony are often later slaughtered and the meat donated to charity, fulfilling another aspect of the tradition.