20 September 2026

Urge The Voice of Lakewood to Address the Ethical Concerns of Using Chickens for Kaporos

Older Hasidic man wearing a traditional black suit and hat.
Photo by The Voice of Lakewood

On September 18, The Voice of Lakewood published “From Carload to Kapparos Center,” romanticizing the growth of a kapparos center and its use of live chickens. The article describes the center’s expansion from a carload of chickens decades ago to approximately 2,000 chickens last year and an expected 3,500 this year, “now with everything from shechitah [ritual slaughter] and kisui hadam [covering of the blood] to on-site grilling.” It also highlights the center’s cozy relationship with Lakewood police and portrays animal-rights demonstrators as a disturbance.

The article conspicuously omitted the serious ethical question at the heart of this practice: Why take a life while asking Hakadosh Baruch Hu to judge us for life?

The suffering associated with the transport, handling, confinement, and slaughter of chickens used in kapparos raises serious concerns and is difficult to reconcile with the Torah-based principle of Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim (causing unnecessary pain to living creatures).

This year, 13 Israeli municipalities—including Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Petah Tikva, Beersheba, and Ashkelon—have said they will not allow the use of live chickens for kapparos. Shamayim: Jewish Animal Advocacy urges a compassionate alternative: using money instead and donating it to charity.

The Voice of Lakewood should give its readers the opportunity to hear this perspective and consider whether the use of live chickens for kapparos is truly compatible with the mercy and forgiveness associated with Yom Kippur.

What Can I Do?

Please contact The Voice of Lakewood and ask the publication to provide its readers with the ethical and Jewish perspective it omitted from its coverage of chickens being used for kapparos:

  • Address the ethical concerns surrounding the use of live chickens for kapparos.

  • Include the perspective that using money instead of chickens is an established alternative.

Contact The Voice of Lakewood:


Jewish atonement ritual known as Kaparot.
Photo by The Voice of Lakewood