Posted By richards on October 6, 2014
This gives a whole new meaning to Free Bird.
A group of animal activists saved 17 chickens from slaughter as part of a controversial Jewish Kaparot tradition before Yom Kippur.
On Friday, the activists, with the help of a few friendly cops, convinced some Orthodox Jews in Borough Park, Brooklyn, to hand over a few of the leftover redemption roosters right before the start of Yom Kippur.
The protected poultry were taken to an upstate animal sanctuary.
This is a holiday miracle, said Rina Deych, a founding member of the Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos. This is an indication of what God truly wants. And thats for all His creations to live a long happy life.
The ultra-Orthodox Jews use the chickens in a rite, observed before Yom Kippur, in which theyre swung above the head three times in a symbolic transference of ones sins. Theyre then slaughtered and ostensibly donated to the poor for a prefast meal.
But many chickens die inside small transport cases as they sit on city streets for hours -- and sometimes days-before they are used.
Last week, a group of animal rights activists held three rallies in Crown Heights denouncing the practice, which has no basis in the Torah or Talmud.
A top Orthodox-Jewish umbrella group told the protestors to worry about bigger offenders.
"We consider the ritual itselfas the religious right of those who practice it," said Avi Shafran, a spokesman for the Agudath Israel of America. "And we think animal rights activists would better expend their energies by focusing on Butterball, not Borough Park."
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