Israel’s High Court of Justice on Wednesday, 3 Tishrei 5779, rejected a petition filed by former cabinet minister, Avraham Poraz, who wishes to have the court ban the Minhag of Kaporos using chickens. Poraz was hoping the court would instruct Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel and police to act against anyone trying to conduct kaporos ahead of Yom Kippur.
Justices Amit, Solberg and Mintz wrote in their decision: The petition should be summarily dismissed. First, the petition was filed with considerable delay. Yom Kippur is fixed every year, on the 10th day of Tishrei and submission of a petition on the 26th of Elul, only four working days before Yom Kippur, is unacceptable.
The justices added, “The petition is general and does not specify at all which violations are alleged to be contrary to the law and what the respondents do not enforce. All that is claimed is that the Respondents do not exercise their powers according to law and do not perform their duties. In such a situation, it is not possible to know whether the Respondents “do not act, inter alia, by not enforcing the Kaporos Procedure” as defined in the petition, or not. More than once, this court has insisted on the need to define a request for concrete assistance as a condition for hearing the petition.”
While it was rejected for now, the court did so for technical reasons and this does not bar resubmitting another petition to ban kaporos in the future. Poraz was a member of the Meretz and Shinui parties when serving in Knesset, during t he years from 1988 to 2006.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Let Poraz be the Kaporah for Klal Yisroel…
Dont those Anti religion people learm from Haman , Nes Chanukah when all generations they tries to STOP us from practicing our religion and they had their Mapoolah.
Of course there needs a major Tikin the way some Sochrim handle those poor chickens and there needs to be better enforcement by the local Rabunim ,but to BAN a minheg yisroel is total anti religious.
No difference whether the High court dismissed the petition for technical or legal reasons; HKB”H is on our side to protect us for those evil doers.
But on the other hand, Kaporoh organisers should be aware of the danger and strictly comply with all health and safety rules and avoid any Tzar Ba’lechaim.
It would also be best to perform Kaporos away from the public eye.
Unless you own chickens on your farm, or on your rural Towns neighbors yards, you should use money. Don’t let thousands of chickens be brought in to city with many dying and being unfit for shechting, With Photos getting around Like last year when chickens were being squashed and not treated with care after kaparos. Use City use Money! In Upstate NY use chickens.
Agree with leahleh
Leahle – You must not condemn a centuries old holy minhag.
Tzarba l’chaim is severe but not every transportation of chickens amounts to that as long as it’s done in a responsible way.