animal rights Archives – Jewish Journal

My Plant Based Renaissance — A poem for Torah Portion Emor

Rick Lupert April 29, 2021

As most shuls opt for coins, Kapparot Still Observed in Woodland Hills

Tess Cutler September 29, 2017

‘The Simpsons’ co-creator Sam Simon dies at age 59

Jewish Journal March 9, 2015

Sam Simon, a co-creator of Fox\’s long-running hit animated series \”The Simpsons\” and an ardent philanthropist for animals, died after a battle with colon cancer, his agent said on Monday. He was 59.

Comparing animal rights and the Holocaust

Naomi Pfefferman October 10, 2012

On Oct. 2, Alex Hershaft, a Holocaust survivor and founder of the nonprofit Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), sat on the ground with some 100 other protesters in front of the Farmer John pig slaughterhouse in Vernon, Calif., blocking the entrance from two bi-level trucks carrying 200 pigs that had arrived to be slaughtered that day. In the next 24 hours, the pigs would be among 6,000 animals that would be stunned by electrical shock, hoisted up by their hind legs and their necks slit in the plant, which is the largest pig slaughterhouse on the West Coast.

Human Atonement or Animal Cruelty?

Gaby Wenig October 2, 2003

Early morning on the day before Yom Kippur, groups of Jews will be gathering to hold squawking chickens by the feet and twirl them over their head while chanting a prayer. After the twirling, the chickens will be ritually slaughtered and given to the poor.

Kaparos, literally atonements, which has been performed in Los Angeles at the Santa Monica Chabad House and at Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad, is one of the strangest-looking customs in Jewish liturgy. It is done to inspire repentance and to impress upon its adherents the seriousness of Yom Kippur. However, the practice has inspired the ire of animal rights groups, who consider it cruel to the chickens, and many are urging that Jews who practice this custom do so using money instead, which is an acceptable substitute.