Weird and Wacky Rituals: Shlogn Kapores

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of the LORD. (2) The LORD said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come at will into the Shrine behind the curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the ark, lest he die; for I appear in the cloud over the cover. (3) Thus only shall Aaron enter the Shrine: ... (5) And from the Israelite community he shall take two he-goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ...

(7) Aaron shall take the two he-goats and let them stand before the LORD at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; (8) and he shall place lots upon the two goats, one marked for the LORD and the other marked for Azazel. (9) Aaron shall bring forward the goat designated by lot for the LORD, which he is to offer as a sin offering; (10) while the goat designated by lot for Azazel shall be left standing alive before the LORD, to make expiation with it and to send it off to the wilderness for Azazel....(15) He shall then slaughter the people’s goat of sin offering, bring its blood behind the curtain, and do with its blood as he has done with the blood of the bull: he shall sprinkle it over the cover and in front of the cover. (16) Thus he shall purge the Shrine of the uncleanness and transgression of the Israelites, whatever their sins; and he shall do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness...

(20) When he has finished purging the Shrine, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, the live goat shall be brought forward. (21) Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on the head of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated man. (22) Thus the goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness... (26) He who set the Azazel-goat free shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may reenter the camp.

(27) The bull of sin offering and the goat of sin offering whose blood was brought in to purge the Shrine shall be taken outside the camp; and their hides, flesh, and dung shall be consumed in fire. (28) He who burned them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may re-enter the camp. (29) And this shall be to you a law for all time: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall practice self-denial; and you shall do no manner of work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you. (30) For on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you of all your sins; you shall be clean before the LORD.

The Parpisa is a perforated flower pot in which people plant. In the responsa of the geonim I found that they made baskets with palm leaves and filled them with dust and dung. And 22 or 15 days before Rosh Hashanah they would make one of these for every minor in the home. And they would plant in it, Egyptian bean or another legume and they call it "porpisah". After it sprouts, on Rosh Hashanah, each takes his or her own and spins around his/her head seven times and says: "This is instead of this, this is my replacement, this is my exchange" and then flings it into the river.

In certain places there is a custom to slaughter a rooster as an atonement on Erev Yom Kippur. This custom can be found in the responsa of the Geonim, in which they were asked, "We are accustomed to slaughter a rooster on Erev Yom Kippur, but we don't know why this is. If it is based on the idea of a "substitution", i.e. that this animal be killed rather than me, what is the difference between a rooster and any other animal.

This is a legitimate question, with two potential resolutions. The first is that roosters are found in the house more often than forms of livestock or other birds. The other reason is that in our areas, we see rich people who have a ritual of "substituting" a ram for themselves, but really what matters is that the animal has horns like the ram in the Akeidah story, and so really any horned animal works.

But I also heard from earlier scholars that even though livestock is more expensive than roosters, nevertheless a rooster is a better animal to use for this "substitution" because its name is called "gever" in Hebrew, which also means man. And since this animal is intended to substitute for a person, and they are both called "gever", this is the ideal animal to use.

Therefore, we have the custom for an emissary to put one hand on the roosters head and lift it up, and put the other hand on the head of a person seeking forgiveness, and says "this one is in place of that one", "this one is forgiven through that one", and then they recite a number of verses. And they do this whole process three times. After this, he puts both hands on the head of the rooster and then slaughters it. It is customary to give the rooster to poor people, as this functions as an atonement for his soul. And our custom is to throw the innards up onto the roof to give them to the birds.

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The Custom of Kapparot on Erev Yom Kippur That which [people] are accustomed to perform kapparah before Yom Kippur by slaughtering a rooster for each male and to say verses over it, you should prevent the custom. RAMA: And there are those from the Geonim that write about this custom, and similarly it is written from many Achronim, and so is the custom in all these countries [Ashkenaz] - and you shouldn't change, for it is an ancient custom. And it is the custom to take a male rooster for a male and a female for a female. A pregnant woman takes two roosters, for maybe she will have a male. One chooses white roosters according to what it says (Isaiah 1:18) 'If your sins prove to be like crimson, they will become white as snow". It is customary to give the kapparot to the poor or to redeem them for money to give to the poor (Maharil). One must place his hands on the kapparah immediately after he chooses it for himself and to place his hands on it like was done with the sacrifices, and to throw their intestines on the roof or in the courtyard, a place where the birds can take from there (Tur).

Children of men! Those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death bound in affliction and [chains of] iron. He brought them out from darkness, from the shadow of death, and their shackles, He broke. They are fools— because of their transgression and their iniquities— they cause their own affliction. All manner of food is abhorred by their soul, and they draw near until the gates of death. [Then] they cried out to Hashem in their distress; from their anguish, He delivered them. He sends His word and heals them, and delivers them from destruction. Let them thank Hashem for His kindness, and for His wonders to the children of man. If there be for him an angel, one interceding angel among a thousand, to vouch for man's uprightness; then [God] is gracious unto him, and says: “Redeem him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom [for him.]”