ULTRA ORTHODOX JEWISH BOYS WITH ROOSTERS DURING KAPAROT IN JERUSALEM FOR YOM KIPPUR, 1999-09-16 (photo)

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys carry their roosters through the chicken market area in the Mea Shearim neighborhood September 16 on the way to perform the traditional "kaparot" ceremony prior to Judaism's holiest day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which begins Sunday evening at sundown. The ritual of reciting prayers while a white rooster is swung over one's head is performed in order to transfer one's sins accumulated during the past year into the bird which is then ritually slaughtered and eaten shortly before the start of the holy day. Israel comes to a total close on Yom Kippur and Jews observe a fast for a 24 hour period. JWH/GB