Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Video: Annual Chicken Slaughter In Williamsburg's Orthodox Jewish Neighborhood
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 7, 2011
Modified Oct 7, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 3
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 7, 2011
Modified Oct 7, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Yom Kippur kicks off at sundown tonight, but first there's a lot of atoning to do today! On our way to work this morning, we passed by one of the controversial Kapparot rituals on Kent Avenue In Williamsburg, in the heart of the Orthodox Satmar community. The tradition, which dates back to the middle ages, involves swinging a chicken overhead and then slaughtering it—and has drawn protests from animal rights' activists. But there were no demonstrators this morning, just a police van, hundreds of Satmars, and a truckload of doomed chickens.
After agreeing to turn the cell phone camera off (sorry, no tripod—but at least we held the phone horizontally?), one Orthodox passerby told us that according to tradition, they purchase a chicken and transfer their sins to the fowl. Asked if they then collect their slaughtered, sin-flavored chickens to cook for dinner, he informed us that all the chickens were given to the poor. Mmmm, sinfully delicious!
Tagged
day of atonement
kapparot
orthodox jews
satmar
yom kippur
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Being reigning champions is weird for Knicks fans. We could get used to this.
Seeing high hopes dashed had become so routine, it was part of our identity. This year feels different.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
News
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
By
Rosemary Misdary
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .