kapparah

[ Sephardic Hebrew kah-pah-rah; Ashkenazic Hebrew kah-paw-ruh ]

noun

, Hebrew.

, plural kap·pa·roth, kap·pa·rot [kah-pah-, rawt], kap·pa·ros [kah-, paw, -, r, ohs].

1. a ritual performed by some Orthodox Jews before Yom Kippur that consists of swinging a fowl around the head and reciting prayers that symbolically transfer the person's sins to the fowl.

Word History and Origins

Origin of kapparah¹

kappārāh literally, atonement