Films / Movies / Films & Videos / Films About Diet and Food

THE VOTING BLOC: The Story of a Mass Ritual Slaughter on the Public Streets of New York City

by Jennie Richards · Published October 3, 2021 · Updated December 6, 2021

This is the story of Kaporos. A shocking, horrifying, cruel ritual that happens every September on the streets of New York city and in other large cities around the world. Why? Kaporos is an annual religious ritual practice conducted by sects of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish groups that use live chickens to “atone for their sins” by allegedly transferring the practitioners’ sins and punishment to that of the bird, supposedly absolving the participants of their own sins.

What Happens During Kaporos?

The rabbi or practitioner removes the bird from its cage and swings the live bird by their delicate and fragile wings, over and over above their head, then publicly and brutally slits the throat of the bird while violently handling it, all while chanting verses about transferring their sins and punishment symbolically to the chicken. This is done in the days preceding Yom Kippur—the Jewish Day of Atonement.

Dead chickens, half dead chickens, chicken blood, chicken feathers, chicken urine, chicken feces, other toxins and garbage such as used latex gloves and filthy tarps consume the public streets anywhere this ritual takes place. The birds are not only unjustifiable injured and tortured, they are deprived of food and water for the days leading up to the event, while crammed into small cages awaiting their fate. Swinging these birds causes their ligaments to rip and wings to break, causing extreme pain and agony for them. They receive no protection from the elements, no food or water, no medical care, and the birds often die from heat exhaustion while awaiting their fate. The Hasidic Jews then put dying birds into garbage bags to slowly suffocate to death and dead birds in the trash.

There is zero oversight and no remedy for cleanup. The Hasidic Jews leave their garbage and live and dead birds all over the streets for the public to see. Plaintiffs maintain that operating such illegal public slaughterhouses causes and creates a public nuisance, a public health risk, a public health hazard, a dangerous condition on the streets, and is deeply cruel and inhumane.

The repeated chant basically says, “This chicken is my atonement, my substitute. This chicken will die for my sins and I will go on to a happy and peaceful life.” The chicken’s throat is then cut by a rabbi, who thrusts the dying bird, head down, into a funnel to struggle and bleed to death over a bucket.

Chicken Kaporos is a very public ritual conducted on sidewalks, school grounds, and parking lots for all the public to see and witness, even if they don’t want to, and it goes on for hours, often all night until dawn—as chicken after chicken is violently pulled from their crate, waved over the head of the Jewish adult, child or baby, then brutally slaughtered. The chickens witness the slaughter of their fellow sentient beings, and cry out, while exhibiting terrible stress, panic, and terror over the violence, until hundreds upon hundreds of chickens have been killed and slaughtered in one day and are left dead or dying in dumpsters.

It is unconscionable cruelty and brutality and is totally needless, all to celebrate a holiday with cruel indifference to animals and their sentience. Kaporos also teaches young Jewish children and babies that animals have no inherent value, and inflicting pain and torture on them for this reason is somehow acceptable. It is not. It is entirely unnecessary as there are other material and non-animal means like coins that are available to atone for one’s sins, other than prayer.

Kaporos is a highly controversial religious custom which involves the confinement, torture and barbaric slaughter of more than 50,000 chickens on public streets every year during the week preceding the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. It is a substantial environmental and public health risk that could have catastrophic consequences. It puts the public at risk for infectious disease, Campylobacter, Salmonella, avian viruses including certain strains of influenza and other bacterial pathogens such as Arcobacter, Chlamydophila and E. coli.

These Hasidic Jews are violating the Jewish teachings in the Torah that prohibits animal cruelty, in addition to violating New York City and State laws regarding public health and safety. The Jewish religion permits the use of coins for Kaporos—so the use of coins instead of torturing sentient birds is the answer. This cruel and unnecessary custom using live animals is primitive and needs to go.

Film Length: 12 Minutes

Film Premier: September 2021

#kaporos #jewish #tradition #culture #chicken #slaughter #brooklyn #newyorkcity #publichealth #documentary #film