Kapparot
KapparotPhoto by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Three Chabad communities on Friday discovered that the chickens they used for kapparot were sold to an Arab meat processing plant, to be slaughtered and sold as "halal" poultry, CrownHeights.info reported.

Traditionally, the chickens used for the kapparot ritual are donated to needy Jewish families, or to yeshiva students.

Nachlat Har Chabad Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda Yeruslavsky immediately responded with a letter stating that anyone who had participated in the Chabad-organized kapparot ritual in Rehovot, Kiryat Gat, or Nachlat Har Chabad redo kapparot using money.

Kapparot may be performed with a live chicken or fish, or with money. Chabad and many haredi groups perform the ritual using a live chicken.

Leaders of the affected communities said they will file a complaint of fraud against the organizers.

In recent years animal rights groups have opposed the use of chickens for kapparot. In addition, Israel's Agriculture Ministry launched a campaign discouraging the use of chickens, taking out large full-page ads in prominent religious newspapers imploring the public to use money instead.

In 2016, a Los Angeles judge issued a temporary restraining order against performing the ritual in any format in the city of Irvine, California.