There is an interesting custom that many Jews practice before Yom Kippur called "Kapparot" (lit. "expiations"). What's it all about?

A custom some might prefer to "waive"
Have you ever seen a person waving a chicken over his or her head, while chanting verses, and then offering the neck of the chicken to the slaughterer's knife? Sounds like something out of the Dark Ages, doesn't it?

We are told that one way to think of this custom is that it represents the symbolic transference of one's sins onto an animal (a chicken) which is then slaughtered [vicarious death] and given to the poor (a good deed). In simple language, you are saying: "Although I have sinned, I'm being given the opportunity to live again... I must atone for my sins."

The custom is first recalled in the period of the Gaonim of the ninth century and finds its source in the common meanings of the Hebrew root "gever" which can mean both "man" and "cock."

Put your money where your mouth...
There are some communities that have dropped or discarded this custom, claiming that Judaism has no authentic history of vicarious sacrifice. Thus it is almost unheard of in the Spanish and Portuguese communities of Holland, and most of the liberal communities in the United States.

Woodcut

Of course, the rabbis have cautioned that one should not think that the ceremony of "kapparot" actually atones for misdeeds. Rather, a person is supposed to think of the possible punishments deserved according to the strict letter of the law, and the mercy offered in being spared from them...

The actual verses intoned can be found in the festival prayer book.

Generally the Sephardim and Chassidim perform the ceremony with chickens. For the rest, Ashkenazi Jews, or those for whom the ceremony with the chicken is too "difficult" too handle, the rabbis sanctioned the use of money as equally appropriate for the redeeming of "kapparot." This money - consisting of values in multiples of 18 (the Hebrew value for "life") - is also waved over the heads in likewise fashion. The money is then donated to the poor to enable them to buy their necessary provisions for the Yom Tov (holiday).

A modern idiom
If you perchance by a store in Israel and you see someone knock a glass jar to the ground you may witness an angry scene. But you also might hear someone - especially of North African heritage - call out: "Kapparah!"

Well, this can happen at any time of the year, not necessarily prior to Yom Kippur. The idea is that when property is destroyed in an accident but a person is spared, the word "Kapparah" is used to imply that "you" were forgiven; something else was "sacrificed" instead. Superstition? Well, it makes you think. Try it next time you break something...