Ultra-Orthodox Jews Perform The Kaparot Ritual Before Yom Kippur

An Ultra-Orthodox Jew swings a chicken over his head during the Kaparot ceremony in the Mea Shearim neighborhood, in Jerusalem, Monday, October 7, 2019. The Jewish ritual of Kaparot symbolically transfers the sin from the past year to the chicken and is performed before the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year. Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 8, when Jews will refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, bathing, or having sex for nearly 26 hours. Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI