Councilman Christopher Pollak says he opposes live-animal kapparot and wants candidates to state their positions, reviving a religious-liberty dispute from 2019.
JACKSON, N.J. — A Jewish ritual involving live chickens has entered Jackson Township’s 2026 election debate after Councilman Christopher Pollak publicly declared his opposition to the practice and challenged candidates across the political spectrum to say where they stand.
Pollak emphasized that he was expressing a personal opinion and was not proposing legislation or speaking for the Township Council.
“I do not support ritual animal sacrifice,” Pollak said in a recorded statement. “I believe in religious freedom. I believe people have the right to practice their faith, but believing in religious freedom doesn’t mean that I have to support and agree with every religious practice.”
The practice is kapparot
The ritual at the center of the controversy is kapparot, also spelled kaporos or kapporos.
Kapparot is a separate customary ritual observed by some Orthodox Jewish communities during the days preceding Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
In the traditional live-animal version, a participant passes a chicken over the head while reciting a prayer associated with repentance. The chicken is then slaughtered according to Jewish dietary law, with the meat or its value traditionally intended for charity. In recent years, watchdogs have found evidence showing chicken corpses strewn about and not donated in Jackson and Lakewood, raising concerns about animal welfare.
Many Jewish families perform an alternative version using money, which is then donated to people in need. A religious explanation of the kapparot custom notes that the ritual may be performed with either a chicken or money.
Yom Kippur begins at sunset Sunday, Sept. 20, and ends after nightfall Monday, Sept. 21.
Caged chickens renew animal-welfare debate
Pollak’s statement comes as cages of live chickens connected to kapparot have drawn attention near Bingo Wholesale in Brick. Behind the Bingo store, chickens wait in crates before being summoned for the ritual.
The presence of chickens in transport cages is connected to the live-animal form of the ritual, during which birds are distributed to participants and later taken for kosher slaughter.
Animal-welfare advocates have long objected to the use of live chickens, raising concerns about crowding, exposure, access to food and water, handling and transportation.
Supporters defend kapparot as a protected religious custom and say properly handled birds are slaughtered for food rather than killed solely as a symbolic act. The ritual remains disputed within Jewish communities as well, with many rabbis and participants supporting the money-based alternative.
Pollak asks candidates to answer publicly
Pollak directed his challenge toward Republican and Democratic candidates, although Jackson’s municipal election is formally nonpartisan.
“Since we’re in an election year, I think it’s a really fair question to ask the Republican candidates if they support this ritual animal sacrifice, and especially the Democrat candidates,” Pollak said.
He argued that candidates who advocate for animal welfare should explain how they reconcile those positions with religious slaughter.
Pollak is seeking a full Township Council term as part of a slate with mayoral candidate Elliott Shem-Tov and council candidate Amanda Trombetta. Mayor Jennifer Kuhn is running with council candidates Brian McCarron and John “Pojo” Pejoski.
The Jackson Republican organization, led by Township Council President Mordechai Burnstein, endorsed Kuhn, McCarron and Pejoski. Shore News Network previously reported on the Jackson GOP club’s endorsement of the three-candidate slate.
No direct public responses from Kuhn, McCarron, Pejoski or the opposing candidates were located in the material reviewed for this report as of Tuesday. The Democrat candidates have also remained silent on the topic.
What actually happened in Jackson in 2019
The current debate reaches back to Jackson’s 2019 HEART Ordinance, a broad measure addressing animal cruelty.
Burnstein, who was not yet a councilman, helped to defeat the ordinance by pressuring council members on religious rights. The ordinance passed the Township Council by a 4-1 vote in November 2019, but carved out an exception for the religious practice.
Public records show that Burnstein contacted township officials while the measure was under review and urged them to include language protecting kapparot from a potential ban. The final ordinance contained that exemption.
Jackson’s existing animal-treatment code states that nothing in the chapter may be interpreted to hinder religious freedom and expressly exempts qualifying ritual slaughter and the handling of livestock in preparation for it.
The law describes protected ritual slaughter as a method performed according to the requirements of a recognized faith by a recognized practitioner. It does not create an unrestricted exemption from all state animal-welfare, health, zoning or food-safety requirements.
Shore News Network’s review of the 2019 records found that early drafts caused concern among religious residents, but the ordinance ultimately adopted by the council protected the practice rather than banning it.
Religious freedom collides with political speech
Pollak repeatedly said he was not calling for government action.
“I’m not even attacking anyone’s religion,” he said. “I’m having an open discussion and I’m giving my personal opinion about a specific practice.”
His remarks nevertheless place candidates in the middle of a sensitive divide involving animal welfare, religious liberty and the limits of municipal authority.
Candidates may personally support or oppose a religious custom. Any attempt by a government to regulate it, however, would face constitutional scrutiny and would need to apply neutral animal-welfare and public-health rules without targeting a particular faith.
Readers can follow continuing coverage of Jackson Township, politics and religion from Shore News Network.
