Kapparot
/kəˈpɑː.roʊt/noun
A Jewish ritual performed before Yom Kippur in which a person symbolically transfers sins to a chicken or money, which is then donated or disposed of according to custom.
Did you know?The ritual’s name comes from the Hebrew root K-P-R, associated with covering or atoning, the same root behind Yom Kippur; its use with chickens became widespread in medieval Jewish communities.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*k-p-r
“A root associated with covering, wiping away, or making atonement”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
כפר (k-p-r)
“To atone, purge, or make expiation for wrongdoing”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
כפרה (kapparah)
“Atonement or expiation”
Geonic Period
Hebrew
כפרות (kapparot)
“Atonements; the plural name applied to the pre-Yom-Kippur penitential ritual”
Medieval Jewish Communities
Hebrew
kapparot
“A ritual involving the symbolic transfer of sins to a rooster, hen, or substitute money”
Modern English
English
kapparot
“The transliterated Hebrew name for the ritual traditionally practiced before Yom Kippur”