The following letter was sent by the PETA organization (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to Rabbi Luzer Weiss, in regards to their complaints that following Kapparos last year, a large Kaparos center in Crown Heights was throwing away dead chickens instead of giving them to the poor.
Last year, YWN posted an extensive letter written by PETA to Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (For that letter, click HERE)
August 22, 2008
Rabbi Luzer Weiss, Director
Kosher Law Enforcement Division
Brooklyn Office
NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
55 Hanson Pl.
Brooklyn, NY 11217-1583
Re: Consumer Fraud Alert
Dear Rabbi Weiss:
In advance of this year’s kapporos events, we request that the Kosher Law Enforcement Division investigate possible consumer fraud committed annually by Rabbi Shea Hecht of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE).
On September 20, 2007, NCFJE disposed of approximately two-thirds of the thousands of slaughtered chickens at its kapporos operation. These are chickens consumers expected to be processed for meat and distributed as tzedakah. The two-thirds figure was confirmed by NCFJE’s Yosef Moya in a meeting that I had with him and Rabbi Hecht on December 31, 2007, at NCFJE’s head office in Crown Heights. Furthermore, at the NCFJE’s September 20, 2007, kapporos event, PETA videotaped XXXX -who was responsible for ticket sales-as he stated that most of the slaughtered chickens would not be processed and would just be thrown in the garbage.
He attempted to justify this by adding that the money used to purchase the thousands of discarded slaughtered chickens may then be used to buy replacement chickens to feed the poor. PETA has enclosed a DVD of this conversation and additional footage of the hundreds of bags of slaughtered chickens that would be left for trash. These bags were subsequently placed inside a rented container labeled #12, which was picked up by Greg’s Express at approximately 7 a.m. on September 21, 2007.
The deceptive practice conducted by NCFJE of selling such a huge number of chickens for kapporos-while fully aware that there was no logistical plan in place to process even one-third of them-constitutes a fundamental violation of the principle of bal tashchit (wasteful, wanton destruction). This disposal of the slaughtered chickens demonstrates a shameless violation of the intent and practice of the kapporos ritual.
As such, we request that this be investigated as a legal matter of possible deceptive advertising and consumer fraud.
Such types of deceptive practices have been documented for the past several years throughout different kapporos centers in Brooklyn. Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum of The Jewish Press wrote:
KIS [Kashrus Information Service] found that, in addition to chickens being reused repeatedly (literally deceiving the paying public) they were not provided enough room, not fed properly, if at all, were being schechted by unqualified and unsupervised shochtim and improperly disposed of. . . .
The hashgachah must oversee that no tza’ar ba’alei chaim (abuse) of chickens takes place … and that the ultimate disposition of the slaughtered chickens are to poor families or religious institutions.
Participants at NCFJE clearly did not expect the chickens they made kapporos with-in such an intimate and solemn ritual-to be disposed of as trash. Nor did they expect the money that they paid to be so deliberately squandered. Had they known that their chickens would be bagged as garbage, requiring the purchase of replacement chickens, they might have opted for another location that gave the full percentage of their fee to charity. Or they might have opted to use the religiously sanctioned alternative of doing kapporos with money, thus ensuring that 100 percent of their tzedakah would go directly to the needy.
In the private December 31, 2007, meeting in Crown Heights and in subsequent correspondence, Rabbi Hecht has made it clear that he sees no problem with these methods. He has brazenly asserted that he does not intend to change anything.
At this meeting, I also brought up other issues that we documented on video as part of NCFJE’s kapporos in 2007, including the following:
*Abandoned chickens in cardboard boxes on the street *Abusive mishandling of birds by adult and juvenile participants and workers *Seven full crates of dead chickens who died in transport in crowded cages or died while waiting for hours without any food or water *Still-conscious birds who were put in garbage bags following ineffective shechita *Numerous health violations
Rabbi Tannenbaum also wrote:
A continuation of kapparos kashrus abuses cannot be allowed to continue.
The kosher consuming public must become sensitive to this issue and register its outrage. . . .
Reviewing the entire current kapparos situation, using alternatives to chickens such as money to tzedakah, might be a desirable option.
We will be releasing footage of all these abuses (please see the second enclosed DVD) and submitting a full report to the Kashrus Information Service detailing all these serious problems. In every step of the process, it is clear that Rabbi Hecht is intentionally operating at a volume well beyond the capabilities of NCFJE, and he makes no effort to ensure that the birds are treated according to the principle of tsa’ar ba’alei chayim.
Since kapporos in 2007, PETA has tried to work quietly behind the scenes with NCFJE to help the organization recognize and resolve these issues.
However, it is evident that Rabbi Hecht takes no responsibility for any of these problems and expresses no regret or remorse for the flagrant cruelty or the gratuitous slaughter that has misled participants and wasted lives and money. In addition, Rabbi Hecht will not entertain any measures to abate this waste and suffering. On April 1, 2008, Rabbi Hecht informed us that he was ending all correspondence with PETA on this issue.
For all the reasons outlined above, we respectfully request that the Kosher Law Enforcement Division investigate whether deceptive advertising and fraud were committed by Rabbi Hecht. We also ask the Kosher Law Enforcement Division to take all necessary measures to ensure that this disgraceful conduct is not repeated by NCFJE this year.
Sincerely,
Philip Schein
Policy Department
PETA
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19 Responses
Assuming the allegations in the letter are true, is there any reason why the recommended changes can’t be made? Is there any reason why 2/3 of the chickens (or any of them) should be wasted as opposed to being given to charity? Is there any way to make sure that the facility is run with cleanliness and that the chickens have adequate space, etc. as part of the process?
The Wolf
If one sees the video it is quite obvious that there are serious problems with that Kapporos center- I wouls assume and from first hand observation that in many other Kapporos centers the same problems exist-
I am no fan of PETA but the video is quite damning- I remember as a child – going with my parents to Delancey Pitt chicken market and doing Kapporos in a much more civilized way- the Kapporos marketers of today are quite different- I do not know why we seem to be above criticisim and label any observation from outsiders as Anti-Semitic-
We seem to feel that as frum yidden we are above any reproach-whether here or in Eretz Yisroel- we feel we are above the law- witness the actions of the Bnei Brak yeshiva bochurim who stoned the forest ranger for having the nerve to tell them that cannot start bonfires in the nature preserves-
They treat the chickens by Kapporos fine in Crown Heights, there is nothing wrong, just PETA wants to make problems.
More than one meeting was held last year at this time by a special committee of rabbonim under the aegis of Agudath Israel of America. These sorts of allegations were not denied, but taken very seriously, and takkonos were formulated to rectify the problems. I don’t know what has happened since — but I was relieved to see that our leadership is trying to take responsible action and is neither in denial nor in “shoot the messenger” mode.
I am no PETA supporter, but they have appeared, on this issue, to be very respectful and tried to work through this issue quietly. The accusations noted here are shamefull and should embarass the entire frum world. How can we allow this to happen? Unless I can be certain that the chicken will not be thrown into the garbage I’ll use money for Kapporah.
Whatever is wrong with the kapparos process should be corrected.
However, PETA an unreliable and evil source of information and anything they say should be discounted.
They are among the largest slaughterers of animals in America. They have purchased a large refrigerator to do this. http://www.petakillsanimals.com/news_detail.cfm?ID=3706
They believe in rat, pig, dog, boy meaning that a rat is just as valuable as a human baby. If there is a question of saving either one, it’s a toss up. They try to prevent medical experimentation on animals that could save many suffering people.
When the Nazis took the Jews to the concentration camps, many “kind hearted” Nazis took their pets. Peta has inherited the philosophy and evil of these cruel and vicious murderers. They are the scum of the earth and may Hashem Yisborach obliterate them soon.
We ALL need to write to Luzer Weiss in support of kaporos. We cannot allow left wing liberal wakkos to control us. They are out to get rid of EVERYTHING meat and THEY MUST BE STOPPED!
They are NOT right about Kaporos or anything else.
Use PETA members INSTEAD of chickens this year.
Concern by Gedolim over Tzar Baalei Chayim and improper shechita of Kapparos is as old as the minhag of Kapparos. Let’s stop this Chillul Hashem. I plan to shlug money and send it to Masbia.
Given PETA’s track record, we know that whatever they say is a blatant lie, and that whatever videos they show are somehow falsified or misleading. Whatever PETA says needs to be discounted as a matter of course, or else people might get the mistaken impression that PETA has some degree of credibility. This allows their next libel campaign to do more damage. If people have a real concern they need to send it through legitimate channels.
Two years ago I visited Brooklyn after Yom Kippur to buy items for Sukkot. I walked down Coney Island Avenue and in an abandoned lot there were chickens in cramped cages left over from Kapparot on Erev Yom Kippur. Since then, it had rained for several days. Most of the chickens were either ill, dying or dead and covered in filth. (naturally, they had been given no food or water for days) the animal police were there, they probably had to end up putting the survivors to sleep. Does such an action really bring kapparah to those involved in it?
The cost per Kappah chicken is usually $18-$20 dollars. For that price you can buy four or more, prepared and packaged chickens for a poor family.
Kapparot with live chickens is not cost effective, is cruel to the chickens, desensitizes us to cruelty, and exposes us to health risks from coming in contact with feces, and bacteria that the birds are infected with. Far better to say Kapparot over either money that goes directly to Tzedakah, or packaged, cleaned chicken that can go directly to a person that needs it
I must note that for many many years, the Skwere Rebbe Shlita in Boro Park, does kapporos with chickens, and has a shochet AND a bodek, check every chicken, after shechita. All ksher chickens (most of them) are immediately put away and used.
So, this business of shechting chickens only to have them thrown in the trash is NOT practiced by all.
Please see the heading to the Siman in Shulchan Aruch which states [in the original print, now reinstated in the Friedman print of Machon Yerusholayim] in which the Mechaber refers to the practice as “Minhag Kapparos Minhag Shtus”
And now…?
Forsooth, for vexillology has replaced obviated peregrination and clarity.
Indeed.
I agree with Yaacov137 who wrote:
I am no PETA supporter, but they have appeared, on this issue, to be very respectful and tried to work through this issue quietly. The accusations noted here are shameful and should embarass the entire frum world.
It should also embarass the entire frum world that ‘mark levin’ could write:
Use PETA members INSTEAD of chickens this year.
This is a truly disgusting thing to write.
Inexcusable.
To #’s 3, 6, 7 9: PETA may be in our eyes a liberal group that some feel goes way too far in defense of animals. But that in no way automatically means they are wrong about how kapporos is practiced. Last year there was a scandal in Monsey. Chassidim wanted to do kapporos and the local authorities gave them their own place. They agreed to certain rules about sanitation, etc. What happened is they left dead chickens and chicken parts all over the place threatening nearby areas with the spread of disease. It got into the newspaper and became a chilul hashem.
Kapporos is only a custom. Most Yidden thankfully use money instead. I think the burden should be on those who use chickens to guarantee that the chickens will be treated humanely, without pain—they’re not only animals, but also kosher ones—and basic rules of sanitation will be observed. Anything less would be an aveira and maybe also a chillul hashem, as happened in Monsey last year.
PETA is not antisemitic and is known to do good on behalf of animals, regardless of being relentless to those in their target sites. If there is no problem, there is no evidence to PEAT to sink it’s teeth into.
There’s a lot of money to be made in Kapparos.
I had a friend who was doing it try to convince me to get in on it. You buy chickens for a few bucks and then mark the price way up for kapporos, dont feed them or take care of them, and throw em away when your done and cash in the profits.
Sorry, but everyone is looking to make a buck these days.
Very unfortunate.
It seems PETA is correct here.
Political movements that are zealous in the expansion of animal rights are very dangerous. We should have no dialogue with them. In Europe we had horrible experiences with animal rights movements and anti – Shechitah laws.
PETA has a short term goal to tax all meat consumption and a long term goal of prohibition of all meat consumption. See their web site.
This does not mean that we do not need to “get our act together”. Needless pain to animals is still prohibited. However, not every improper or immoral behavior needs to be acted upon by the State. For some behaviors, the invasion of privacy or the threat of extremism and tyranny outweigh the benefits of government involvement.
#16==> Give Me a Break
Your right, you have a Constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression But YWN has the right to censor what they want. This is private Website and they manage site anyway they want. And if your comments were out of context they will leave it out.
Long peyos and beards,big black hats do not make a person frum. Wasting poor animals is a sin and cannot be a kapporro. If you want kapporro,do teshuva and treat fellow people and animals with proper respect.Then come to Hashem with clean hands and soul.