Monsey, NY – Group Fined for Conditions at Kapuras Ceremony

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    Monsey, NY – A group that used county-owned land for a religious ceremony involving 11,000 live chickens was fined $3,000 today for leaving the property strewn with blood, feces, feathers and other garbage that attracted flies and maggots and caused the potential for disease.

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    Moshe Lefkowitz organized the kapuras ceremony, which was held near the site of the long-closed Rockland Drive-in on Route 59 in Monsey.
    He didn't deny the charges and told the Rockland Board of Health that the poor conditions were caused by his son, who helped organize the ceremony.
    "He's only 18," Lefkowitz said. "He's too young."

    Rockland officials met with Lefkowitz in August, before the ceremony, and outlined steps the group had to follow to meet the county's sanitary code requirements.
    "It looked like a disaster area," inspector Kevin Mackey told the Rockland Board of Health today. "It was not maintained properly." [Journal News]


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    16 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    All the chachomim who have decided on this blog that they have more care for the welfare of an animal than the various geonim, chachamim and tzadikim who perform this minhag from time gone by, really have amazing things to teach us.

    The fact that there was a mess needs to be dealt with, whether the guy is blind or not, he or another responsible party need to hire the appropriate help to take care of it.

    BUT don’t use this as an excuse to why you should drink the koolaid and give up on things that are meyusad al hororei kodesh

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Anon January 17, 2008 2:34 PM,

    >What a dad. With selfish fools like him, it’s no wonder our youth are at risk…

    With his disabilty, he is blind, the man probably does more chesed in a month then you do in year. And I’m sure his kids are frummer than yours. Come to Monsey and ask any chassidishe yungerman to introduce you so you can apologize personally. Know who you’re talking about before you shoot off your mouth. Next, it was not public land. It is the privately owned, possibly for sale to Walmart, former drive-in, popularly called a park and ride. Lastly, he has been doing this for many years, this is the first time there was a problem, possibly because he gave it over to his son in order to avoid paying a manager. He can’t micro manange it himself, he’s blind.

    BTW he also a tremendous talmid chochom. Sit down and learn with him. He’ll be three words ahead of you and still correct your mistakes.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Im a Chassideshe Yingerman living in Brooklyn and after observing all the problems involved with the Kaporos #1 Chilul Hashem #2 Tzaar Baalie Chaim #3 Taarivois at the Kaporeh centers #4 Gezileh as to what they charge for renting a chicken for one min #5 Nevieleh U’triefeh by Shechting the chicken’s ETC…. So I decided to stop this Minhag all together, I do it with $18 In Ich bin Yoitzeh. (allthough I send my wife with the Kinderlach just for traditional reasons)

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Go blame your son!!!

    What a dad. With selfish fools like him, it’s no wonder our youth are at risk – they learn to behave stupidly from their parents.

    De Shamas
    De Shamas
    16 years ago

    guys you have to clean up after yourself. leaving coffee cups on table in shul. your wife will not clean up after you.
    after using public property, its only proper to leave it in the same
    condition, as was before, or pay for cleaning.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    There is no excuse for a mess of this magnitude. If indeed the individual is blind and endeavors to manage a process as large as Kaporos in Monsey, it is his responsibility to have a capable individual oversee that the area is left clean and in a healthy state.
    To the individual who compared messes at beaches to this mess, the difference is obvious, this mess was animal parts, feces and blood which are magnets for maggots and disease spreading vermin.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Firstly he’s blind so he’s not passing the buck.
    Second he’s a tzaddik that really isnt a wealthy man this is not a $$ ploy.
    Thirdly dont push your minhagim on other people. If someone uses chickens bec its his monhag so be it.

    The Colonel
    The Colonel
    16 years ago

    Use money instead of a chicken. It leaves no mess, no rishonim argue against it, twirling Hamilton, Jefferson and Grant until they get dizzy is not a shiloh of tza’ar ba’al chaim and no one ever treifed-up shechita of a dollar bill because he shechted too many too quickyly.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    its very sad taht this happened and i think that its also unfair for the total responsibility to be put on the son since one of the posters said that the person who organized this is blind.
    i would like to suggest that a committee be formed and everyone work together and take on the responsibilities so that this will not happen again.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    You people obviously don’t know who this person is. The reason why he put it on his son is because this person is blind and he cannot see the mess left on the floor.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    why would he put it on his son?!?!?!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    This goes two ways.
    I can see that maybe he left a mess. But things happen all the time and there is no followup and prosecution. Visit many beaches or parks and the same conditions are left after people set up their grills and do their grilling. These are usually not Jewish people, therefor it is tolerated.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    And what he is the poor guy going to do when he has no moeny for lawyers because all the money went to the “poor people”.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    it is not public land

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    There is no excuse for this chilul Hashem, especially after government officials approved the use of public land and was specific in how to handle every aspect of the Kaporos ritual in order to meet health and sanitation regulations. An 18-year old is not too young to comply with the rules.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Kapuras is a custom observed by some Jews in the days before Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, when a live chicken is held above a person’s head and swung or moved in a circle three times.
    A prayer is said so the person’s sins are symbolically transferred to the chicken. The chicken is then slaughtered and its meat donated to the poor.