Kaddish

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This page refers to a Jewish prayer. For other uses see Kaddish (disambiguation).

Kaddish (קדיש Aramaic: "holy") refers to an important and central blessing in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, several variations of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between various sections of the service.

The term "Kaddish" is often used to refer specifically to "The Mourners' Kaddish," said as part of the mourning rituals in Judaism in all prayer services as well as at funerals and memorials. When mention is made of "saying Kaddish", this unambiguously denotes the rituals of mourning.

The opening words of this prayer are inspired by Ezekiel 38:23, a vision of God becoming great in the eyes of all the nations. The central line of the kaddish in Jewish tradition is the congregation's response "May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity", a public declaration of God's greatness and eternality.[1]

[edit] History and background

Most of the Kaddish is written in Aramaic, which at the time of the original Kadish's composition, was the lingua franca of the Jewish people: "Kaddish was not originally said by mourners, but rather by the rabbis when they finished giving sermons on Sabbath afternoons and later, when they finished studying a section of midrash or aggadah. This practice developed in Babylonia where most people understood only Aramaic and sermons were given in Aramaic so Kaddish was said in the vernacular. This is why it is currently said in Aramaic. This "Rabbinical Kaddish" (Kaddish d'Rabbanan) is still said after studying midrash or aggadah or after reading them as part of the service. It differs from the regular Kaddish because of its inclusion of a prayer for rabbis, scholars and their disciples. While anyone may say this Kaddish, it has become the custom for mourners to say the Rabbinical Kaddish in addition to the Mourner's Kaddish."[2]

The Jewish Virtual Library observes that "The first mention of mourners saying Kaddish at the end of the service is in a thirteenth century halakhic writing called the Or Zarua. The Kaddish at the end of the service became designated as Kaddish Yatom or Mourners' Kaddish (literally, "Orphan's Kaddish")."[3]

The Mourners', Rabbis' and Complete Kaddish end with a supplication for peace, which is in Hebrew, and comes from the Bible.

Along with Shema and Amidah, the Kaddish is one the most important and central blessing in the Jewish prayer service.

[edit] Variations

The various versions of the Kaddish (sometimes spelled Qaddish) are:

• Chatzi Kaddish (חצי קדיש) or Kaddish Leela (קדיש לעלא) – Literally "Half Kaddish"
• Kaddish Yatom (קדיש יתום) or Kaddish Yehe Shelama Rabba (קדיש יהא שלמא רבא) – Literally "Orphan's Kaddish", although commonly referred to as Kaddish Avelim (קדיש אבלים), the "Mourners' Kaddish"
• Kaddish Shalem (קדיש שלם) or Kaddish Titkabbal (קדיש תתקבל) – Literally "Complete Kaddish" or "Whole Kaddish"
• Kaddish d'Rabbanan (קדיש דרבנן) or Kaddish al Yisrael (קדיש על ישראל) – Literally "Kaddish of the Rabbis"
• Kaddish achar Hakk'vura (קדיש אחר הקבורה) – Literally "Kaddish after a Burial", also called Kaddish d'Itchadata (קדיש דאתחדתא) named after one of the first distinguishing words in this variant. In the presence of a minyan, this version is also said at the siyum upon completion of the comprehensive study of any one of the Talmud's tractates ("volumes") and is printed at the end of most tractates.

Most versions of the Kaddish begin with the (complete) Chatzi Kaddish. (There are some additional passages in the Kaddish after a burial.) The portions that follow that basic formula have led to their having been given the names by which we now know them. The Kaddish, as used in the services, are chanted. The cantillation varies depending on the version as well as on the service itself. While the Chatzi Kaddish generally has a distinctively upbeat melody, the Mourners' Kaddish is recited slowly and contemplatively.

After the Shema, Amidah, and Aleinu, the Kaddish is the most important and central blessing in the Jewish prayer service. The Jewish Encyclopedia's Kaddish article mentions an additional type of Kaddish, called "Kaddish Yachid", or "Individual's Kaddish". This is contained in the Siddur of Amram Gaon, but is a meditation taking the place of Kaddish rather than a Kaddish in the normal sense.

[edit] Text of the Kaddish

The following includes the half, complete, mourners' and rabbis' kaddish. The variant lines of the burial kaddish are given below.

[edit] Text of the Burial Kaddish

In the burial kaddish^h, lines 2-3 are replaced by:

[edit] Notes:

• Bracketed text varies according to personal or communal tradition.
• (a) The congregation responds with "amen" (אָמֵן) after lines 1, 4, 12, 15, 18, 27, 33, 36. In the Ashkenazi tradition, the response to line 12 is "Blessed be he" (בְּרִיךְ הוּא b'rikh hu).
• (b) On line 1, some say Yitgaddel veyitqaddesh rather than Yitgaddal veyitqaddash, putting these words into a Hebrew rather than an Aramaic form.
• (c) Line 13: in the Ashkenazi tradition the repeated "le'ela" is used only during the Ten Days of Repentance. In the Sephardi tradition it is never used. In the Yemenite tradition it is the invariable wording.
• (d) Lines 4 and 30-32 are not present in the Ashkenazi tradition.
• (e) During the "complete kaddish" some include:
  • Before line 16, "accept our prayer with mercy and favour"
  • Before line 28, "May the name of God be blessed, from now and forever" (Psalms 113:2)
  • Before line 34, "My help is from God, creator of heaven and earth" (Psalms 121:2)
• (f) Line 35: "b'rahamav" is used by Sephardim in all versions of kaddish; by Ashkenazim only in "Kaddish deRabbanan".
• (g) Line 36: "ammo" is used by most Sephardim, but not by the Spanish and Portuguese Jews or Ashkenazim.
• (h) Lines 37 to 45: these lines are used (i) in the Burial Kaddish; (ii) in the version of the Kaddish DeRabbanan used in a siyum on the completion of a Talmudic tractate; (iii) by Yemenite Jews, in Kaddish DeRabbanan generally.

[edit] Customs

The Kaddish immediately before Barechu is often sung by the officiant to a rhythmic tune. Every other Kaddish in the service, except for the Mourners' Kaddish (see next section), is usually chanted by the officiant as a recitative. In all cases the congregation makes the necessary responses. In Spanish and Portuguese synagogues, the entire congregation sings Kaddish Yehe Shelama in arbit of Yom Kippur.

In Sephardi synagogues the whole congregation sits for Kaddish, except:

• in the Kaddish immediately before the Amidah, where everyone stands;
• in the Mourners' Kaddish, where those reciting it stand and everyone else sits.

In Ashkenazi synagogues, the custom varies. Very commonly, in both Orthodox and Reform congregations, everyone stands; but in some (especially many Conservative) synagogues, most of the congregants sit. Sometimes, a distinction is made between the different forms of Kaddish, or each congregant stands or sits according to his or her own custom. The Mourners' Kaddish is often treated differently from the other occurrences of Kaddish in the service, as is the Half Kaddish before the maftir.

Some Reform synagogues have dropped all use of Kaddish except the Mourners' Kaddish, though in many there is now a move to reinstate it before Barechu and/or the Amidah.

[edit] Mourners' Kaddish

Main article: Bereavement in Judaism

The best known form is the "Mourners' Kaddish", said at all prayer services and certain other occasions. It takes the form of Kaddish Yehe Shelama Rabba, and is traditionally recited several times, most prominently at or towards the end of the service, after the Aleinu and/or closing Psalms and/or (on the Sabbath) Ani'im Zemirot. Following the death of a spouse or close relative it is customary to recite the Mourners' Kaddish in the presence of a congregation daily for thirty days (eleven months in the case of a parent), and then at or near every anniversary of the death; and in what follows, a "mourner" means any person present at a service who has the obligation to recite Kaddish in accordance with these rules.

Customs for reciting the Mourners' Kaddish vary markedly among various communities. In Sephardi synagogues, the custom is that all the mourners stand and chant the Kaddish together. In Ashkenazi synagogues, the earlier custom was that one mourner be chosen to lead the prayer on behalf of the rest, though most congregations have now adopted the Sephardi custom. In many Reform synagogues, the entire congregation recites the Mourners' Kaddish together. In some congregations (especially Reform and Conservative ones), the Rabbi will read a list of those who have a Yahrzeit on that day (or who have died within the past month), and then ask the congregants to name any people they are mourning, similar to the Misheberach. Some synagogues try to multiply the number of times that the Mourners' Kaddish is recited by, for example, reciting a separate Mourners' Kaddish after both Aleinu and then each closing Psalm. Other synagogues limit themselves to one Mourners' Kaddish at the end of the service.

It is important to note that the Mourners' Kaddish does not mention death at all, but instead praises God. Though the Kaddish is often popularly referred to as the "Jewish Prayer for the Dead," that designation more accurately belongs to the prayer called "El Maleh Rachamim," which specifically prays for the soul of the deceased.

[edit] References in Popular Culture

• Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg (1894-1956) is one of the most famous and celebrated poems of beat poet Allen Ginsberg

• "Kaddish" is the title of an episode of the television show The X-Files (season 4, episode 15), in which a Golem is avenging a murder.

• "Kaddish" is the title of an episode of the television show Homicide: Life on the Street (season 5, episode 17), in which detective John Munch (Richard Belzer), who is Jewish, investigates the rape and murder of his childhood sweetheart.

• The Mourner's Kaddish can be heard being recited by Collins and Roger during the song "La Vie Boheme" in the musical Rent.

• In the television series Drawn Together, the character Toot Braunstein recites the Mourner's Kaddish in the episode "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special".

• In Rocky III, Rocky Balboa recites the Mourner's Kadish for Micky.

• In Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain, the narrator states that the Mourner's Kaddish signifies that "a Jew is dead. Another Jew is dead. As though death were not a consequence of life but a consequence of having been a Jew."

[edit] References

• Cyrus Adler, et al. "Kaddish". Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906. pp. 401-403.

[edit] External links

• The Significance of Kaddish chabad.org
• Kaddish explanation at the Jewish Virtual Library
• Mourner's Kaddish Bands Kaddish Bands