PURELY COMMENTARY
New
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1989
vicarious offering, my
atonement; this cock (or
hen) shall meet death, but
I shall find a long and plea-
sant life of peace." The fowl
is thought to take on any
misfortune which might
otherwise befall a person
in punishment of his sins.
After the ceremony, it is
customary to donate the
fowl to the poor, except for
the intestines which are
thrown to the birds. Some
rabbis recommended that
money, equivalent to the
fowl's value, be given
instead.
This custom is nowhere
mentioned in the Talmud.
It appears first in the
writings of the geonim of
the ninth century, who ex-
plain that a cock is used in
the rite because the word
gever means both "man"
and "cock"; the latter can,
therefore, substitute for the
former.
In Babylonia, other
animals were used,
especially the ram since
Abraham offered a ram in
lieu of his son Isaac, or
plants, e.g., beans, peas.
After the destruction of the
Temple no animals used in
sacrificial rites could serve
similar purposes outside
the temple and therefore
cocks or hens were
employed in the kapparot
rite because they were not
used in the Temple
sacrificial cult.
Rabbi Solomon b.
Abraham Adret strongly
opposed kapparot because
it was similar to the
biblical atonement rites; he
also considered the kap-
parah ritual to be a
heathen superstition. This
opinion was shared by
Nahmanides and Joseph
Caro who called the kap-
parot "a stupid custom"
(OH 605). The kabbalists
(Isaac Luria, Isaiah
Horowitz), however, in-
vested the custom with
mystical interpretations.
These appealed strongly
to the masses, and it
became very popular
when the rabbis acquiesc-
ed to it. Isserles made it a
compulsory rite and en-
joined for it many
ceremonials similar to
those of the sacrificial cult;
e.g., the laying of the hands
upon the animal, its im-
mediate slaughter after the
ceremony, prayers of con-
fession, etc.
Treating this debatable
subject seriously, the invita-
tion to the reader is to share
in the aim to learn and to
respect differing opinions,
even on practices that have
become universally accoun-
table in scholarly disputes.
If there will come forth a
criticism that will call con-
sideration of this issue of
blasphemy, let there be
another resort to the term
shlogen. It is with reference to
the beating of willow sprigs,
an endorsement of it that led
to a change in the Jewish
calendar to avoid resort to
whatever may lead to the
violation of Sabbath and
festival regulations. The
Universal Jewish En-
cyclopedia defines the custom
and traces the correction of
the calendar to avoid Sabbath
desecration. The article in the
encyclopedia asserts:
Hoshana Rabbah, the
twenty-first day of Tishri,
which is the seventh day of
the Sukkot festival and the
last of its intermediate days
(Hol Hamoed), has been of
special significance since
biblical times.
Talmudic sources relate
that on every day of the
Sukkot festival there was a
procession around the
altar in the Temple, each
person holding in his
hands the four plants,
lulav, etrog, myrtle, and
willow, bound together.
While circling the altar
they would chant in
unison, "We beseech Thee,
0 Lord, save now! We
beseech Thee, 0 Lord,
make us now to prosper"
(Ps. 118:25), and "I and he,
save now:'
On Hoshana Rabbah,
however, the people would
first march joyfully to Mot-
za (about thirty minutes'
distance from Jerusalem),
where they would cut
many willow branches,
and then return to the 'Tem-
ple, where they decorated
the altar with them. After
making seven circuits
around the altar they
would beat a small bunch
of willow-sprigs against
the ground,
Hoshana Rabbah was
considered so important
that when the calendar
was fixed by the Patriarch
Hillel II (about 350 C.E.),
one of its main provisions
was that Hoshana Rabbah
should never fall on a
Saturday,. According to
some, this custom of
beating the willow-sprigs is
of Sinaitic origin, while ac-
cording to others, it
originated in the time of
the Prophets, either as a
general practice, or as a
practice of the few.
In the Gaonic period
these circuits were
repeated at the afternoon
service. The willow was the
symbol of the fruitfulness
of rain, for tradition held
that on the next day
(Shemini Atzeret) the
amount of rain to be sent to
the earth for the ensuing
year was determined.
Much ground has been
covered here about traditions,
customs, festival regulations.
Hopefully, we have all learn-
ed from it. The compilation of
it also enlightened the writer
of this essay and recognition
of the disputable in Jewish
studies. That's how we keep
learning. l=1
NEWS
High Court Upholds
Freedom To Publish
Jerusalem (JTA) —
Freedom of speech got a
major boost from Israel's
High Court of Justice last
week, when it ruled that the
right to publish supersedes
concerns for personal
reputation.
The ruling, by Justice
Aharon Barak, ended a year-
long legal battle between
journalist Arye Avneri and
businessman-politician
Avraham Shapira, a former
Knesset member for the
ultra-Orthodox Agudat
Yisrael party.
Barak overturned a Tel
Aviv District Court decision
to ban publication of a book
by Avneri, The Masters,
which purports to tell the
story of Shapira.
The lower court had decid-
ed that Shapira would have
to give his consent and was
.
entitled to see a draft of the
book prior to publication to
scrutinize it for libel.
It had gone even farther by
demanding that Avneri
submit the draft for the
court to read.
But, said Barak in his 50-
page ruling, "such a burden
amounts to a sort of censor-
ship which does not conform
to the principles of freedom
of speech."
He wrote that a "system of
legal bans will jeopardize
the functioning of the press,
the literature and other
forms of expression."
Moreover, Shapira, who
owns the Carmel Carpet
Corp., was ordered to pay the
journalist $2,500 for legal
expenses.
Shapiro may now appeal
the judgment before a panel
of the High Court.