Zeh Kaporosi: The Custom of Kaporos; By Rabbi Avrohom Reit; Mosaica Press
Rabbi Avrohom Reit has just released his latest work, Zeh Kaporosi: The Custom of Kaporos. The author, a noted talmid chacham and close confidant of Rav Dovid Feinstein, might just be the first person to compile a work that deals exclusively with the enigmatic custom of kaparot. His presentation is exceptionally crisp, clear, and comprehensible. Complementing the text are small-sized, real-life photographs (some of which might not be for the squeamish). It is a one-stop shop for everything kaparot.
The sefer opens with the origins of the kaparot custom. Readers may be surprised to learn that kaparot – at least in some form – might date back to the Talmudic era, with Rashi testifying about a custom to use a plant for kaparot. The author presents the relevant literature from the Talmud, and from the gaonim and rishonim, which discusses the performance and evolution of the ceremony. Indeed there is a full explanation and commentary, from start to finish, on all the aspects of kaparot. Readers will learn that there are many different facets to the kaparot ceremony, including symbolism and association with korbanot, blessings, “distracting the Satan,” the akeidah, and more. One will certainly come away from this sefer realizing that kaparot is far more than simply transferring one’s sins to a chicken.
Although the text is essentially well balanced, as it must be for this somewhat controversial topic, the author is somewhat obsessive in his pro-kaparot agenda. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to suggest that some readers might come away with the impression that those who do not perform kaparot are not fully observant. He also makes it clear that, in his opinion, the legitimacy of kaparot performed with anything but a chicken (to the exclusion of fish and money, which have become popular in many circles) is questionable at best. Indeed, even in the chapter on using money for kaparot, there is a veiled accusation that the minhag to do so is essentially baseless and canonized by none other than the 1987 edition of the ArtScroll siddur.
Footnotes are generally limited to primary sources and those most accessible. There is a useful Hebrew appendix at the back of the sefer that contains many of these and other sources in their original. In addition to the main topic of kaparot, there are also sections dealing with the issues of tza’ar ba’alei chaim, a general overview of the mitzvah of kisui hadam, and a very thorough step-by-step practical guide to kashering chickens at home.
Here is my take on some of the interesting halachot discussed in the chapter on kisui hadam. The author states that one who recites the accompanying blessing after performing kisui hadam has recited a berachah levatalah. Although the blessing should certainly be recited before performing the kisui hadam – in accordance with normative halacha – it might be inaccurate to say that one who recited the blessing after covering the blood has recited a berachah levatalah.
In the opinion of the Behag and others, the blessing should be recited after performing the kisui hadam. This is because these authorities hold that the start of the shechitah until the kisui hadam’s completion is one long continuous mitzvah. According to this approach, when one begins to cover the blood after the shechitah, one is essentially in the middle of the mitzvah. And a blessing is never recited when one is in the middle of performing a mitzvah. In other words, the blessing recited on the shechitah is essentially the berachah rishonah of this one long mitzvah, and the blessing recited after all the blood has been covered is the berachah acharonah.
As mentioned, however, normative halacha is not in accordance with this view, as most authorities rule that the shechitah and the kisui hadam are two distinct and independent mitzvot. According to this approach, the blessing should definitely be recited before performing kisui hadam. Nevertheless, the Peri Chadash takes the view of the Behag into consideration, ruling that one who accidentally went ahead and covered the blood before reciting the blessing may nevertheless recite the blessing afterward. This also seems to be the view of the Yeshuot Yaakov (siman 19) and Sha’agat Aryeh (siman 26).