Memento Mori
This is a story of death, fear, attraction, disgust, hypocrisy. This is a story of ancient traditions that still prevail to this day. This is a story that will probably be unanimously condemned, even though most of us are mesmerized by its darkness. I have dedicated a lot of thought to this documentary story, pondering which parts are suitable for publication and considering the sensitivity of the subject and the range of emotions it may evoke.
"KAPAROT" is an ancient Jewish ritual performed on the night before "Yom-Kippur", the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Both names are derived from the Hebrew word "KAPARA", meaning atonement. This is a day dedicated to repentance, mainly by fasting and praying. The orthodox religious Jews also take part in the ritual of "KAPAROT", where a chicken is waived three times over a person's head while reciting verses of the prayer, symbolically transferring one's sins to the chicken. Later the chicken is slaughtered and donated to those in need. It is the act of charity of feeding the hungry ones that is believed to strengthen the atonement.
As a documentary photographer, I tried to document this ritual as it is, zero judgement. If truth be told, it was both fascinating and repelling to see these visuals for the first time in my life. Reviewing the photos I took this night later at home was extremely difficult. Naturally, the main questions that popped to my mind were "How will viewers react to such photos? Will I be criticized just for bringing this story to the spotlight? Will this contribute in any way to hatred towards a certain group of people or towards Judaism or religion as a whole?" Not easy thoughts for contemplation. I tried to look for answers from other Israeli photographers, that are more experienced than me in documenting this specific ritual and in these ethical dilemmas in general. The variety of views I got was overwhelming. It ranged from "If you consider yourself a documentary photographer you should publish everything, including taking lives, as this is part of the reality you document" to "Show only the mild stuff and implicit photos that won't hurt anybody's feelings, otherwise you are just as brutal as the ritual".
Emotional responses I received were strong and poignant no matter whom I talked to about this controversial tradition. Those objecting this ritual screamed in anger about animals' slaughter used as a mean for religious purposes. Those in favor mentioned the fact that most of those against the ritual are eating chickens almost daily, being willingly blind about the exact same process taking place as a routine in the background of their weekly supermarket purchase. Here at least, they say, it is done for charity and helping other people feed their children.
Many philosophical debates followed, leaving me with more and more open questions. One thing I clearly sensed is that underneath all these emotional discussions and different views a primal fear was hiding. Fear of death, our own death, was lurking in those photos. And whether we admit it or not, we are all attracted to it. This story is by itself a Memento Mori, in a way. A reminder of the thing we try so hard to forget.
