This is a political caricature created by a cartoonist that gave himself the pen name of Ben Rick. The caricature, that is criticising the government, was published in the newspaper of the oppositionist political party, Herut, on September 23, 1955, three days before Yom Kippur 5707.
In the caricature, there are two hawking chickens in the shape of Ben-Gurion and Moshe Sharett. In the background, the door of the chicken coop, which has the word "Government" written on it, has been smashed. Behind the roaring chickens are four other chickens with the parties' letters on the track: the Religious Torah Front, The Progressive Party, Labour Union and Mapam. Each of the roosters is dressed in the style of the party whose values they represent: a hat and wigs for the religious party and a kibbutz hat for the socialist parties. The title of the caricature says "which chicken will go?" indicating the question which chicken will be used for the Kapparot ceremony and ultimately be butchered. While the cartoonist is referring to the Yom Kippur tradition, he is referring to the struggle over power in the ruling Labour party and is hinting that the political system resembles a chicken coop. The smashed door of the coop is referring to the fact the struggle is destroying the coop or government, while the other chickens are simply looking on.
This cartoon was published after the elections to the Third Knesset, which took place in July 1955. The elections were held following the return of David Ben-Gurion to the government after he had previously resignated and had lived for two years in Kibbutz Sde Boker. The return of Ben-Gurion, led to many arguments and increased tensions between him and the previous Prime Minister Moshe Sharett. These tensions led to Sharett's resignation from the government and the appointment of Golda Meir in his place as Foreign Minister.
It is possible that the nickname “Ben Rik” (in Hebrew – an empty son), signed by the illustrator, is a hint towards Bialik's poem "My son is empty and void". This poem expresses criticism of the political Zionists who enjoy talking, but accomplish fairly little.
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Connection to Parashat Acharei Mot
Kaparot refers to a traditional Jewish atonement ceremony that takes place on the eve of Yom Kippur. People traditionally take a chicken and wave it around the head of a person. The chicken is then slaughtered, and is usually given as charity to the poor or redeemed for money which is given to the poor. Today, many feel that this a cruel custom and they replace the live chicken with money.
The first half of this parasha deals with the intricate laws concerning the service in the Temple during the day of Yom Kippur. While the Kohen Gadol leads the service on Yom Kippur, which is designed to provide atonement for the sins of the entire Jewish People.
While the Temple service is no longer practised, many Jews spend the entire day in synagogue, replacing the sacrifices of the Temple with heartfelt prayers.
