The Kaparot (literally means “atonement”) is a Jewish ritual takes place one day before Yom Kippur. The person swings a live chicken or a bundle of coins over one’s head three times while reciting specific verses from the Mahzor. The practice is meant to transfer one’s sin to the chicken. The chicken is then slaughtered and donated to the poor.
A similar ritual is celebrated in Thailand where believers spend few minutes in the coffin to cleanse their soul while the monks chant some prayers. When they rise from coffins they believe they have got their souls cleansed and now ready for new life.
In Haredi Jewish communities, the Kaparot ceremony is still comomplace, but other streams of Judaism have discarded the practice or substituted the chickens for money, which is also given to the needy.
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via: Huffingtonpost
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