Ahead of Yom Kippur, ultra-Orthodox Jews cast out sins with chickens and water

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man performs the Kaparot ritual, where white chickens are slaughtered as a symbolic gesture of atonement, ahead of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, in Ashdod, Israel September 17, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Waving chickens above their heads, ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel performed the ritual of "kaparot" ahead of Yom Kippur, the most sacred day of the Jewish calendar, which begins at sundown on Tuesday.

In the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem and in other cities around Israel, religious Jews said prayers as they performed the traditional rite with the birds, which then go to slaughter.