Darren Whiteside / Reuters
A man walks along an empty street in Jerusalem during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur on Sept. 26.
Oliver Weiken / EPA
Israelis ride bikes on an empty motorway during Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 26.
Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, is the holiest of Jewish holidays, when observant Jews atone for the sins of the past year. Traffic is not allowed during the 25-hour long period.
Uriel Sinai / Getty Images
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman swings a chicken over her family during the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sept. 20, 2012. The Jewish ritual is supposed to transfer the sins of the past year to the chicken, and is performed before the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish calendar, which this year will start on the sunset of Sept. 25.
Uriel Sinai / Getty Images
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man swings a chicken over his family during the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sept. 20.
Jim Holander / EPA
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy peers around the corner of a slaughter house to watch chickens that have had their feathers burned off in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem, Sept. 20. The chickens are bought for the purpose of performing the Kaparot ritual and then butchered under Kosher laws. The meat is usually donated to charity.
Jim Holander / EPA
An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man carries live chickens he purchased at a market in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem to perform the Kaparot ritual, Sept 20. The photograph was taken through a black mesh curtain.
Menahem Kahana / AFP - Getty Images
An Ultra-orthodox Jewish man holds chickens during the Kaparot ceremony in the Mea Shearim Ultra Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem on Sept. 13, 2010. The ritual is supposed to transfer the sins of the past year to the chicken. It is performed before the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish calendar.
The orthodox Jewish ceremony involves taking a white chicken and waving it over a person's head while a prayer is recited, "This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. This chicken will go to its death while I will enter and proceed to a good long life and peace." The chicken is then slaughtered, and it is given to the poor.
Most Jews today perform the Kaparot by waving money that's been wrapped in a white cloth over their head, reciting the prayer and then donating the money to charity.
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