Rosh Hashana: Swinging chickens, blowing a ram’s horn, throwing crumbs in the water

During the Jewish month of Elul, Hasidic Jews perform intense and powerful rituals of atonement. From throwing sins into the water to swinging a chicken over the head, it’s a powerful experience of cleansing, self-flagellation, community, deprivation, and anticipation for a redemptive ending to this period. In this video, I bring you through some of these rituals in what I can only call a poem to my former self, who struggled tremendously with this period, but found its end and the beginning of Sukkos so joyous and light.

Wishing a joyous, sweet and wonderful upcoming year to all.

The music in this video is partly from Beri Weber’s gorgeous music video Hamelech, which you can find here: https://youtu.be/1bS5MjK6qF0?si=A8lsqQYQTtdiELui Thank you Beri for the stirring music!

The gorgeous thumbnail pictures is from Abe K’s famous Instagram account Hasidim in the USA with many thanks. https://www.instagram.com/hasidiminusa/