Redeeming the Firstborn… Donkey!… in Kauai, Hawaii!

Richard Seigel is a retired ship captain from Alaska, who now lives on Kauai, Hawaii’s Garden Island. When he is not attending to his Etrog orchard – one of his favorite pastimes – he is busy with his pet baby-donkey.

A couple of years ago, Richard (aka Zevulun) purchased a donkey from a friend, Yossi. After a 13-month-long pregnancy, it finally gave birth to a beautiful newborn, who was named Yissachar (after the Israelite tribe whose symbol was a donkey).

One of the rarest Mitzvot – and largely unknown today – is the Biblical commandment to redeem the firstborn donkey from a Kohen, with a sheep (or goat). (Exodus 13:13)

The donkey is the only non-Kosher animal whose firstborn is sacred upon birth, and therefore belongs to the Kohen as G-d’s agent, until redeemed. Biblical commentary explains the reason for this unique Mitzvah. This is due to this particular species’ participation in the Exodus from Egypt, assisting the Jewish People with carrying their belongings out of slavery, and through the desert for their years of wandering. It was therefore rewarded with this privilege.

Back to Kauai, 5772.

Excitedly preparing for this special occasion – a first for Hawaii, as for all involved – the search for a Kohen began. While in New York or LA, Kohanim are available by the dozen and donkeys are hard to come by, here on Kauai, one can buy a sheep within the hour, from one of the many pastures that cover this majestic part of paradise. Kohanim, however, are an endangered species, hardly found.

Coordinating this ceremony was Rabbi Michoel Goldman, Chabad’s representative to The Garden Island. The Siegels, who are very close friends of Chabad in Anchorage, Alaska – where they lived for many years – have developed a close relationship with Chabad on Kauai, and have become pillars of the developing island community.

After calling local lay-leaders as well as Rabbis on all neighbor islands, Rabbi Goldman could not identify a Kosher Kohen, and was about to fly one down from LA for the celebration-ceremony.

At the 11th hour, Rabbi Tilson of Chabad-Hawaii-Kai (on the main island of Oahu) called. An Israeli man had just walked into the Chabad House in Honolulu, saying that his family just moved to Hawaii from New York, and he was seeking guidance. After chatting a bit, it turned out he was a genuine Kohen!

Liad Goldman was immediately contacted and after discovering the unusual nature of this rare Mitzvah, happily accepted a ticket to Kauai to participate. He came with his mom who was visiting from Tel-Aviv, and Richard & Vicky Seigel happily hosted them at their place. (Ironically, a couple days later, we found 2 Kohanim who were farming and camping on our very street!)

Rabbi Goldman said: “Having had our first challenge solved, I now began searching for the precise ritual and customs associated with this rare Mitzvah-ceremony, calling some leading Rabbis overseas. None of them were familiar with the details of the ritual, some even questioning if it was practiced today.

Searching HebrewBooks.org, I discovered a Sefer “Brit Kehunah” written by Rabbi Kalfon Moshe haKohen, Chief Rabbi of Djerba, an island off the coast of Tunisia, whose Jewish community (mostly Kohanim) dates back to the era of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem, some 2300 years ago!

How much more authentic a tradition can you ask for?!

I copied the laws and customs from this book and translated the prayers and blessings into English, so that all participants could follow along and appreciate the ceremony, meaningfully.”

The ceremony actually takes only five minutes, and basically involves the Kohen verifying (1) that this is in fact a firstborn and (2) that it belongs 100% to the Jewish owner (who himself is not a Kohen or Levi). Then, the owner takes a sheep (or goat) and makes the blessing “Baruch Ata…Asher Kideshanu b’Mitzvotav v’Tzivanu Al Pidyon Peter Chamor” (Who has commanded us to redeem the firstborn donkey), and also makes a “Shehechiyanu” (while including a new fruit). He hands the sheep to the
Kohen, who pronounces it redeemed and the Kohen blesses the owner that he merit to fulfill more Mitzvot.

It is also customary to adorn the baby donkey with jewelry (in this case, some Hawaiian flower-leis were added!) to commemorate that the donkeys carried out of Egypt all the wealth the Jewish people accumulated from the Egyptians.

The ceremony was followed by L’chaim, celebrations and a festive meal in the Siegel’s Sukkah. How timely, that Zevulun’s Yissachar was redeemed on Sukkot, a festival very much part of his life, where adjacent to the pasture is Kauai’s Etrog Orchard!

Some basic information:

● Kauai, also known as The Garden Island, is the North-Westernmost island in the Hawaiian chain. It is also the most remote. The Jewish Community here is the most isolated (geographically) in the world, and this is the westernmost Chabad on earth!

● There are an estimated 1000 Jewish souls living on Kauai, and many more Jewish tourists each year. Chabad is in the process of planning the first permanent Jewish Center for local Jewish People, and has long-term plans for a Jewish Spiritual Retreat.