An article in the September 15, 2006, edition of "Forward" tells of the sweet challah bread that is on every Rosh Hashanah table throughout the Jewish world. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and it is equivalent to the Feast of the Trumpets in the Bible (Leviticus 23:23-25). Challah is a sweet bread especially made for the occasion to symbolize the desire for a sweet and good year. It is usually baked in a round or spiral shape. This roundness is used to symbolize the round crowns of the righteous and the cycle of the year. Since a circle has no end, it also indicates the desire for a long life.
Here is a site that has pictures of the Jewish practice of Kapparot. "Kapparot, which is from the same Hebrew root as Yom Kippur and literally means "atonements", is a custom which aims to awaken the drive toward repentance while engaging in charity on the eve of Judaism's central day of prayer. The practice of kapparot using live fowl entails the following: A male or female chicken is taken in hand, corresponding to the gender of the taker or family members on whose behalf they are performing the ritual. Psalm 107:17-20 and Job 33:23-24 are recited and the live bird is swung around the person's head three times. While swinging, the person recites the following three times: 'This be my substitute, my vicarious offering, my atonement. This cock (or hen) shall meet death, but I shall find a long and pleasant life of peace.'"
According to an article in Thursday's "Wall Street Journal," earlier this year on the day Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacifice his son on Mt. Moriah (a son they claim was Ishmael), 25,000 sheep in Brussels, Belgium, had their heads turned to Mecca and were sacrificially killed by having their throats slit so that they would die from the shedding of their blood. Many of the Muslims will be eating their sheep for lunch that same day. Although home slaughters are illegal in Belguim, Muslims now make up over 15% of the one million people in the city of Brussels.
