The Power of Kaddish

Kaddish is commonly known as a mourner's prayer, but in fact, variations on the Kaddish prayer are routinely recited at many other times, and the prayer itself has nothing to do with death or mourning. The prayer begins "May His great Name grow exalted and sanctified in the world that He created as He willed. May He give reign to His kingship in your lifetimes and in your days ..." and continues in much that vein. The real mourner's prayer is El Molai Rachamim, which is recited at grave sites and during funerals.

Why, then, is Kaddish recited by mourners?

After a great loss like the death of a parent, you might expect a person to lose faith in G-d, or to cry out against G-d's injustice. Instead, Judaism requires a mourner to stand up every day, publicly (i.e., in front of a minyan, a quorum of 10 adult men), and reaffirm faith in G-d despite this loss. To do so inures to the merit of the deceased in the eyes of G-d, because the deceased must have been a very good parent to raise a child who could express such faith in the face of personal loss.

Opening of 'Kaddish' - Allen Ginsburg

Allen Ginsberg was one of the leading icons of the Beat movement. This long poem was Ginsberg's attempt to mourn his mother, Naomi, but also reflects his sense of loss at his estrangement from his born religion.

*note the reading below is an earlier draft*

Strange now to think of you, gone without corsets & eyes, while I walk on the sunny pavement of Greenwich Village.

downtown Manhattan, clear winter noon, and I’ve been up all night, talking, talking, reading the Kaddish aloud, listening to Ray Charles blues shout blind on the phonograph

the rhythm the rhythm—and your memory in my head three years after—And read Adonais’ last triumphant stanzas aloud—wept, realizing how we suffer—

And how Death is that remedy all singers dream of, sing, remember, prophesy as in the Hebrew Anthem, or the Buddhist Book of Answers—and my own imagination of a withered leaf—at dawn—

Five Kinds of Kaddish

Mourner's Kaddish (Kaddish Yatom), traditionally said by mourners––that is, those who have lost a parent during the previous eleven months or a child, sibling, or spuce during the last thirty days––and by those observing the anniversary of the death of those close relatives. The Mourner's Kaddish omits lines 7 and 8 of the Full Kaddish that asks God to answer our prayers because, presumably, God did not grant the mourner's prayers that the relative recover and live.

Full Kaddish (Kaddish Shalem), is said upon the conclusion of the main section a prayer unit, typically the one that includes Shemoneh Esrei. This form of Kaddish is the only one that includes the phrase “titkabeil tzlot’hon u’va’us’hon d’chol beit Yisrael” – “accept the prayer and the supplication of the entire Jewish people.” Accordingly, it is sometimes referred to as “Kaddish Titkabeil.” This Kaddish may be recited immediatly after the Shemoneh Esrei.

Half Kaddish (Chatzi Kaddish), which omits the last two sentences of Mourner's Kaddish, and consists of only the first two paragraphs and the response ("May his great name be blessed forever and for all eternity")

Rabbi's Kaddish (Kaddish D'Rabbanan), which inserts a paragraph asking god's blessing on those who teach and study Torah. It is typically inserted either after Torah study or a section of prayer which features Torah study.

Burial Kaddish, is recited on two special occasions: when completing a tractate of Talmud or an order of Mishna, and at a funeral. These two occasions are radically different, but there is something in common. The theme of this Kaddish is that, in the merit of Torah study, the world will be renewed, including the eventual revival of the dead. Therefore, it is said for both a siyum (recognizing as it does the rewards of Torah study) and a funeral (as it contains within it the consolation that those who have passed on will someday return to us).

All five require the presence of a minyan.

The Text of Kaddish

May His great name be exalted and sanctified
in the world which He created according to His will.
May He establish His kingdom
and may His salvation blossom and His annointed [the Messiah] come soon
during your lifetime and during your days
and during the lifetimes of all the House of Israel,
speedily and soon. And let us say, Amen.
May His great name be blessed forever and for all eternity!
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted,
extolled and honoured, adored and lauded,
be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
above and beyond all blessings,
that are uttered in the world. And let us say, Amen.
[Half Kaddish ends here; Full Kaddish continues:]
May the prayers and supplications of all the House of Israel
be accepted by their Father Who is in heaven. And let us say, Amen.
[The following section is said only in Kaddish d’Rabbanan, Scholar’s Kaddish:]
For Israel, for the Rabbis and their disciples, for the disciples of their disciples,
and for all those who engage in the study of Torah
in this (holy) place or in any other place,
may there be abundant peace, grace, loving kindness, compassion, long life,
ample sustenance and salvation from the Father Who is in heaven (and earth).
And let us say, Amen.
[All versions except Half Kaddish continue:]
May there be abundant peace from heaven and good life, satisfaction, help, comfort,
refuge, healing, redemption, forgiveness, atonement, relief and salvation
for us and for all His people Israel. And let us say, Amen.
May He Who makes peace in His high places
grant (in His mercy) peace for us and for all his people Israel.
And let us say, Amen.

Further questions on Kaddish: https://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/10/Q1/

For help with saying Kaddish: https://www.chabad.org/library/howto/trainer_cdo/aid/514194/jewish/Kaddish-Trainer.htm#0=1&1=2&2=6&3=v4

With thanks to Rabbis David Winship and Dina Rosenberg, BJE and Judaism 101.