Richard H. Schwartz's Foreword to
Kapporos Then and Now: Toward a More compassionate Tradition
by Yonassan Gershom
Kol hakavod
(kudos) to Rabbi Yonassan Gershom for writing this splendid, much needed book,
arguing that Jews should practice the ritual of Kapporos using money
rather than chickens. He is the ideal
person to write such a book for many reasons:
1. He is very knowledgeable on
Jewish teachings, especially with regard to those about the proper treatment of
animals. These include:
Jews
are to be rachmanim b’nei rachmanim (compassionate children of
compassionate ancestors), emulating God, Whose compassion is over all His works
(Psalms 145:9).
Compassion
to animals is a test for righteousness because, as Proverbs 12:10 indicates,
“The righteous person considers the life of his or her animals.”
Compassion
to animals is so important in Judaism that it is part of the Ten Commandments,
which indicates that animals, as well as people, are to be permitted to rest on
the Sabbath day.
A Jew
must feed his or her animals before sitting down to a meal. The great Jewish
heroes Moses and King David, were deemed suitable to be leaders because of
their compassionate treatment of sheep during the time they were
shepherds. In short, Jews are to avoid tsa’ar
ba’alei chaim, causing sorrow to animals.
2. Rabbi Gershom is a Breslov
Hasid, so he is very familiar with the thinking of Hasidim about the use of
chickens for Kapporos. He is not
an outsider who feels he can and should tell practitioners of Kapporos that
their practice is irrational and has no redeeming positives. He recognizes that one cannot change a
traditional practice without first understanding what it is, where it came
from, and what it means to the practitioners.
So he carefully explains the history of the rite and why Hasidim and
other religious Jews find it meaningful.
Most importantly, he eloquently explains how the purpose of seeking
compassion from God during the “Ten Days of Repentance” between the start of
Rosh Hashanah and the end of Yom Kippur can better be carried out using money
rather than chickens.
3. He and his wife have long lived on a hobby farm where they raise
chickens and other animals, consistent with the powerful Jewish teachings on
compassion mentioned above. Hence he is
sensitive to how serious the mistreatment of chickens is, before and during the
Kapporos ritual. He explains
that while initially the ritual was carried out using chickens that were raised
and treated with care by the practitioners, nowadays massive numbers of
chickens in cages are transported long distances by trucks, are often not given
sufficient food and water, and mishandled during the ritual by people who are
not used to handling chickens. As
Rabbi Gershom explains, holding chickens by the wings during the ritual is very
hurtful to the birds and they only appear calm because they are playing dead,
as they instinctively do when they are attacked by another animal.
4. He properly sees his role as
a bridge between animal rights activists, most of whom are secular and/or
non-Jewish and often act in ways that are counterproductive, and practitioners
of Kapporos, who do not recognize that they are performing a custom
based on transgressing Jewish teachings about compassion to animals, and
thereby committing an act that is not recognized as positive in the Jewish tradition.
5. Rabbi Gershom has a very clear, conversational style of writing,
scholarly yet very readable, and he explains complex issues very well. He is careful to put issues in context. He is not a polemicist, but seeks common
ground and solutions. He uses examples
from his own personal experience and also cites authorities.
In summary, he is the ideal person to argue that Jews should use
money rather than chickens for Kapporos and he does it splendidly in
this groundbreaking book. I strongly recommend
it, hope it will be widely read, and
that his message will be heeded.
You can order your copy now on Lulu.com
Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, College of
Staten Island
Associate producer of the 2007
documentary film,
A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help the World
Author of:
Judaism and Vegetarianism
Judaism and Global Survival
Mathematics and Global Survival
Who Stole My Religion?
Revitalizing Judaism and Applying
Jewish Values to Help Heal Our Imperiled
Planet
And over 200 articles and at JewishVeg.com/schwartz
