Kaparot ritual precedes Jewish holy day

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman swings a chicken over a child’s head Sunday in the Mea Shearim ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem. The Kaparot ritual, in which it is believed that one transfers one’s sins from the past year into the chicken, is performed before the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year, which starts at sundown Wednesday. The chicken is then slaughtered and given to charity.