On the morning of Yom Kippur Eve, and in the throes of the Society’s publicity efforts against the custom of the slaughtering of chickens, one of our volunteers, Eliezer Schwartz, was travelling on the Lod road, when he was taken by surprise by a chicken jumping into the road. Schwartz saw that the chicken was bleeding, but as it was dehydrated and exhausted he was easily able to catch it. The deep cut in its neck along with the sight of the feathers that had been plucked from its body, gave away the fact that it had escaped the butcher’s knife during the Kapparot ceremony.
The frightened chicken received first aid, which was followed-up with professional treatment by Dr. Kaminsky, a veterinary surgeon and expert on fowl, who stitched the wound. Now the chicken, which was given the name Kapparah, is under medical surveillance and antibiotic medication, and will soon join the other birds and chickens in the Society’s animal corner.
We wish to express our appreciation to Dr. Kaminsky for taking care of Kapparah, and hope that in the future people will choose to observe the Kapparot ceremony through giving charity and not by slaughtering animals.