kaparot

Edit

Pronunciations

kaparot (kah-pah-ROTE) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • n. A ritual performed between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to transfer one's sins to a chicken by swinging it over one's head.

Example Sentences

  • "There were protests against kapparot sweeping across the country."

  • "will be subsidizing the cost of Kaporos chickens for Crown Heights Community. The chickens will cost only $10." (source)

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew

Etymology

  • כּפּרות

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
      • View More

      Alternative Spellings

      kapparot, kapores, kaporos, kaparos, kapparot

Notes

  • Singular kapore, kapora - can mean "scapegoat," "punishment."

    "On the eve of Yom Kippur, an individual would swing a chicken over his head three times while praying that his sins would be forgiven. The ritual is almost never practiced in modern times." (JPS)

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.