When the Chickens Went on Strike

I liked this book for no other reason than the labor dispute being between the chickens and the people who swing chickens over the head as a way of cleansing their bad deeds. Way to enlighten us on the chicken's point of view in all this. A fun story for Rosh Hashanah.

First-person story of a young Jewish boy, many years ago, who wanted to be good, but found it difficult. It is the eve of Yom Kippur, when Jews traditionally perform 'kapores', a ritual involving swinging a chicken around the head three times and then killing it, in order to remind people what they deserve for their sins against God. The boy is the one who discovers the chickens have gone on strike. The women try to bribe the birds, the men to threaten them, the rabbi to negotiate, but to no avail. The chickens want their rights! Before the villagers can attack the chickens, the boy encourages them to flee and be free. And the boy manages to become better, even without kapores. The final moral is that "customs come and customs go. All show more things change with time. I learned this from chickens." show less

My favorite theme, Another Point of View. And a happy ending. "Customs come and customs go. All things change with time."

I love that the cover credits the original author, from which this adaptation was drawn. All too often there's not even a note to the source. This one also has a good author's note, too.

A Jewish boy living in Russia learns a lesson from the village chickens at the time of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Teaching about different faiths.

Adapted from a story by Sholom Aleichem.