Kaporos - part 2

I had an opportunity to experience the Kaporos ritual in one of the three main chassidic neighborhoods of Brooklyn, NY. Crown Heights is the home of the Lubavitch Chabad chassidim. A centuries old tradition now in it's seventieth year of growth and development sparked by it's most recent leader, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, it's followers have established branches in Africa, South America, and Asia, as well as the more cosmopolitan centers in the USA and Europe. The inclusiveness of it's core philosophy has drawn Jews from all colors of the spectrum into its fold, while  adhering to the intense and deeply spiritual core of chassidic practice.

Kaporos

In any set of religious observances there are practices that are scriptural - as found in the bible, there are practices mandated by revered sages - the first few generations of rabbis who wrote commentaries on the Torah and oral tradition as elucidated in the Mishna, and there are practices based on tradition that grew out of the dim fog of historical past - such is the ritual of kaporos. A complete detailed discussion of the practice can be found here.

The prayer recited during the ritual is a combination of verses from the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh);

(After the ritual is completed the chickens are then taken to a kosher butcher for preparation and then donated to charity as food for the needy):

Children of man who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in mystery and chains of iron --- He will bring them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and will sunder their bonds. Foolish sinners, afflicted because of their sinful ways and their wrongdoings; their soul loathes all food and they reach the gates of death --- they cry out to the Lord in their distress; He saves them from their afflictions. He sends forth His word and heals them; He delivers them from their graves. Let them thank the Lord for His kindness, and [proclaim] His wonders to the children of man. If there be for a man [even] one interceding angel out of a thousand [accusers], to spend of his uprightness in his behalf, then He will be gracious to him and say: Redeem him from going down to the grave; I have found expiation [for him].

This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my expiation. This chicken shall go to death and I shall proceed to a good, long life and peace.

34th Street Poster Boys

Working on one of my main projects takes a lot of time and attention, but sometimes I like to just get out and shoot on the street for the fun of it.I attended a photo event this afternoon at B&H photo given by my friend and sometimes teacher, Harvey Stein, who has quite a few excellent photo books published. He mentioned a technique he uses which I hadn't given much thought to. So after the class I hit the street and tried out some new angles of shooting.

Rosh Hashanah Treat

Challah, sometimes laced with raisins, is a  sweet compliment to the feast that precedes the holiday observances. Six strands braided into a fluffy loaf. Yummy!

The Shofar

Blowing the Shofar is an integral part of the Jewish high holiday rituals, Rather than repeat what's already been written about it, and much more authoritatively than I could ever hope to do, you can read all about it here. It's a ritual that captivated me as a kid.

Basically, it's a ram's horn (or a goat's, or any other kosher animal - except a deer, their horns are  bone) that has all the internal cartilage removed and a hole drilled in the narrow end. That's the easy part. The hard part is making a sound come out. Kind of like blowing into a trumpet, but more difficult because there's no mouthpiece for a shofar.

There's three specific sounds or signals that are used, each of different length. More about it all on that website.

Drilling the end-hole after the cartilage is removed:

Trying to make a sound by blowing into the hole:

Midtown New York This Afternoon

Traffic was controlled chaos. With the opening of the UN and all the diplomats and heads of state
attenting streets were closed all over midtown. Seems to me a terrible waste of manpower and money, just to ensure the safety of an institution that is a meaningless anachronism of the Twentieth Century.
The bright spot for me as I walked around was to visit the Mitzvah Tank that's parked on Fifty Seventh Street near Fifth Avenue every Wednesday afternoon.

Today was an important day in the Jewish calendar, called Chai Elul - the 18th of Elul: the birthday of the Baal Shem Tov, Yisroel Ben EliezaR - the founder of the Chassidic movement, and the birthday of Sneur Zalman of Lliadi - the founder of the Chabad Lubavitche sect of Judaism. Also for the entire month of Elul leading up to the first day of Tishrei - which is the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the shofar is sounded during each of the three daily services and also for anyone who happens by and would like to hear the sound.

My friend Kalman, one of the regulars on the Mitzvah Tank (and a fellow photog):

Rabbi Levi Baumgarten blowing the shofar after the afternoon Minchah service:

Abundance of Bris Photos

Last October, after looking at all the work of the past few years on my Diaspora/Dream project, I realized I had gaps in the the overall story. One was the lack of brit milah photos. Now I have too many to choose from, and narrowing it down has become very difficult. The photo story has to be told in twenty images, so I don't have the luxury of several photos of the same subject. I have thirteen 'finals' to choose from, and as I'm writing this entry and listing the photos the stronger ones are becoming more obvious to me, but here they all are arranged by event.

I like this series of three photos because they have the intimacy of being in a private home. And the family and community are average mainstream middle-class Jews. The first is of the father holding his son before the ceremony:

The paternal grandfather holding the baby: 

Looking on while the mohel does the circumcision:

Another home setting with the paternal grandfather, baby, and mohel:

The next two were taken at Chabad World Headquarters in Brooklyn, NY. 

The last set were taken in a restored synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side.  The first two are of the father holding the baby. They're very similar and each has it's strengths and weaknesses.

I have a special feeling about this last shot because of the view of the wine cup and the rabbi holding the baby. It's technically not great, but that's the problem when, as a photographer I become attached for emotional reasons to an image.