Moments from the Kaparot Ritual before Yom Kippur (17 images)

Photos from the Kaparot ceremony in the Mea Shearim neighborhood, in Jerusalem, Monday. The Jewish ritual of Kaparot symbolically transfers the sin from the past year to a chicken and is performed before the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year. Yom Kippur begins at sunset on Tuesday, when Jews will refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, bathing or having sex for nearly 26 hours.