Moshe Lefkowitz Monsey Kapparot man: ‘I’m proud of our customs’

Monsey – Moshe Lefkowitz has been conducting the kapparot atonement ceremony for ultra-Orthodox Jews for more than 30 years. So he can’t understand what the recent fuss has been about. The ceremony, which involves the circling of live chicken over the head of the faithful and later slaughtering them as a means of atonement, has invited fines from the county health department that says health codes have been flaunted, and the ire of some neighbors and animal rights groups.

Lefkowitz, 59, said his community was saddened by the furor over the ceremony and its description as something violent. “I am proud of our customs,” said Lefkowitz, a butcher by profession. “It’s very difficult to explain some things to people who do not believe.”

Lefkowitz insists he won’t pay the several thousand dollars in fines the health department has levied against him because he says they’re unfair. The department says it will take legal action if he doesn’t.

Earlier today, Lefkowitz stood in the parking lot of Congregation Birchos Yosef where the ceremony has been held for two years and fielded calls on his cell phone, even as he complained about incessant interruption from people.

Lefkowitz is a man in demand in the week between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur when the ceremony is held. Hundreds of families call him to book tickets for the ceremony, which are sold at $10 a pop.

Each ticket entitles the buyer to a chicken, which becomes the repository of that human’s sins. Sometimes the head of a family buys tickets for each member of the family; sometimes one ticket for female members and another for males, Lefkowitz.

After expenses like buying, transporting and housing chicken is met, surplus money from the tickets goes into a fund. The money supplements Lefkowitz’ income as a butcher.

In the past, the money has paid for Lefkowitz’s children’s tuition