Traditionally, Orthodox Jews perform rituals to cleanse themselves from sin ahead of Yom Kippur. Some communities take part in a ritual called Kapparot, which involves waving a live chicken over the head in the belief it will purge them of their sins by symbolically passing them onto the animal. The chicken is then slaughtered and often donated to the poor for a meal ahead of the fast. Others perform the Tashlich ceremony, where people empty their pockets into running water, symbolically casting their sins out to the sea.
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man swings a chicken over his family as they perform the Kapparot ceremony in JerusalemMenahem Kahana/AFPAn Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man holds a chicken above a baby in Ashdod, IsraelAmir Cohen/ReutersChildren chase a chicken that will be used in the Kapparot ceremony in the Ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Mea Shearim in JerusalemMenahem Kahana/AFPUltra-Orthodox Jewish children gather to look at chickens kept for the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, IsraelBaz Ratner/ReutersChildren chase a chicken in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhoodRonen Zvulun/ReutersAn Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy sells chickens to be used in the Kaparot ceremony in JerusalemIlia Yefimovich/Getty ImagesAn Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy points a camera at another boy as they sell chickens in JerusalemIlia Yefimovich/Getty ImagesAn Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man holds a chicken before he performs the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, IsraelBaz Ratner/ReutersAn ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman wears a plastic bag over her head as she performs the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, IsraelBaz Ratner/ReutersAn Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man holds a chicken over the head of someone wearing a protective hood in Brooklyn, New YorkStephanie Keith/ReutersA man walks past an advertisement for the Kaporot ritual in the Brooklyn borough of New York CityStephanie Keith/ReutersUltra-Orthodox Jews pray along the Mediterranean Sea in the Israeli city of Herzliya, near Tel AvivJack Guez/AFPUltra-Orthodox Jews take part in the Tashlich ritual on the shore of the Mediterranean in Herzliya, IsraelNir Elias/ReutersUltra-Orthodox Jewish men are silhouetted as they perform the Tashlich ritual near the town of Petah Tikva, IsraelBaz Ratner/ReutersUltra-Orthodox Jewish boys perform the Tashlich ritual along the Mediterranean in Herzliya, near Tel AvivJack Guez/AFPA woman jogs past Ultra-orthodox Jews praying along the Mediterranean Sea in Tel AvivMenahem Kahana/AFPIsraelis sit next to their caravan as Ultra-Orthodox Jews pray along the Mediterranean Sea in Herzliya, near Tel AvivJack Guez/AFP
