Kaddish

Kaddish (קדיש, Qaddish Aramaic: "holy"; alternate spelling, qaddish) is a prayer found in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy different versions of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between 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 , 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: יְהֵא שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ לְעָלַם וּלְעָלְמֵי עָלְמַיָּא (Yehei shmëh rabba mevarakh lealam ulalmey almaya, "May His great name be blessed for ever, and to all eternity"), a public declaration of God's greatness and eternality. This response is an Aramaic translation of the Hebrew "ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד" (Blessed be His name, whose glorious kingdom is forever), which is to be found in the Jerusalem Targum (יְהֵא שְׁמֵיהּ רַבָּא מְבָרֵךְ לְעָלְמֵי עַלְמִין) (Genesis 49:2 and Deuteronomy 6:4, and is similar to the wording of .

The Mourner's, Rabbis' and Complete Kaddish end with a supplication for peace ("Oseh Shalom..."), which is in Hebrew, and comes from the Bible .

Along with the Shema and Amidah, the Kaddish is one of the most important and central prayers in the Jewish liturgy.

History and background

"The Kaddish is in origin a closing doxology to an Aggadic discourse". Most of it is written in Aramaic, which, at the time of its original composition, was the lingua franca of the Jewish people. It is not composed in the vernacular Aramaic, however, but rather in a "literary, jargon Aramaic" that was used in the academies, and is identical to the dialect of the Targum.

Text of the Burial Kaddish

In the burial kaddishⁱ, lines 2-3 are replaced by:

Notes

Bracketed text varies according to personal or communal traditions.

* Before line 16, "accept our prayer with mercy and favour"

Before line 28, "May the name of God be blessed, from now and forever" ()

Before line 34, "My help is from God, creator of heaven and earth" ()

Full Hebrew, translation and transliteration can also be found at the Orthodox Unions.

Customs

The Kaddish, as used in the services on special days is chanted. There are different melodies in different Jewish traditions and within each tradition the melody can change according to the version, the day it is said and even the position in the service. The Mourners' Kaddish is never sung and many mourners recite it slowly and contemplatively.

Virtual Cantor's Kaddish Shalem for Shabbat Mussaf

Virtual Cantor's Hatzi Kaddish for Yom Kippur

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

during the Kaddish immediately before the Amidah, where everyone stands;

during 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 variations 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.

Mourners' Kaddish

"Mourners' Kaddish" is 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 parent, child, spouse, or sibling it is customary to recite the Mourners' Kaddish in the presence of a congregation daily for thirty days or eleven months in the case of a parent, and then at every anniversary of the death. The "mourner" who says the Kaddish will be 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. This is sometimes said to be for those victims of the Holocaust who have no one left to recite the Mourner's Kaddish on their behalf. 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 for. Some synagogues try to multiply the number of times that the Mourners' Kaddish is recited, 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 Rahamim", which specifically prays for the soul of the deceased.

Use of the Kaddish in the arts

The Kaddish has been a particularly common theme and reference point in the arts, including the following:

Kaddish Shalem is a musical work by Salamone Rossi (1570-c.1628), composed for five voices in homophonic style, the very first polyphonic setting of this text, in his "Hashirim Asher L'Shomo", The Song of Solomon.

Kaddish is the name of Symphony No. 3 by Leonard Bernstein, a dramatic work for orchestra, mixed chorus, boys' choir, speaker and soprano solo dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy who was assassinated on November 22, 1963, just weeks before the first performance of this symphony.

Kaddish is one of the most celebrated poems by the beat poet Allen Ginsberg. It appeared in Kaddish and Other Poems, a collection he published in 1961. The poem was dedicated to his mother, Naomi Ginsberg (1894–1956).

The French composer Maurice Ravel composed a song using part of the Kaddish. It was commissioned in 1914 by Alvina Alvi as part of a set of two songs: "Deux mélodies hébraïques" and was first performed in June 1914 by Alvi with Ravel at the piano.Deux mélodies hébraïques''

Kaddish is the title for a work by W. Francis McBeth for a concert band, based on the chant of the prayer. McBeth composed this work as a memorial for his teacher J. Clifton Williams. Inspired by Kaddish is a fifteen-movement musical composition by Lawrence Siegel. One of the movements is the prayer itself; the remaining fourteen are stories of the experiences of a number of Holocaust survivors Lawrence interviewed. It was debuted by the Keene State College Chamber Singers in 2008.

In Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain, the narrator states that the Mourners' 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."

In Tony Kushner's play Angels in America (and the subsequent TV miniseries), the characters of Louis Ironson and Ethel Rosenberg say the Kaddish over Roy Cohn's dead body.

The Kaddish can be heard in the opening credits of the film Schindler's List, and is recited in the last scene at the factory.

"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 (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, Toot recites the Mourner's Kaddish in the episode "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special", after saying that her son was (metaphorically) dead.

In Rocky III, Rocky Balboa recites the Mourners' Kaddish for Mickey.

In Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, one of the antagonists goes by the name of Kadaj, possibly a take on Kaddish, which keeps in line with the common use of religious symbolism throughout Final Fantasy VII (Jenova is another example of this.)

In the television show Everwood, Ephram Brown recites the Mourner's Kaddish at his mother's unveiling.

In the film Yentl, at her father's burial, the rabbi asks who will say Kaddish (Kaddish is traditionally said by a son). Yentl replies that she will and, to the horror of those assembled, grabs the siddur and starts saying Kaddish.

The fictional character Dan Turpin was killed by Darkseid in , and at his funeral, there was a Rabbi saying Kaddish. After the episode, there was a message that the episode was dedicated to Jack Kirby, a Jewish comic book artist, who influenced the entire comic book community.

In Torch Song Trilogy, the main character Arnold Beckoff says the Mourner's Kaddish for his murdered lover, Alan, much to the horror of his mother.

Kaddish For Uncle Manny" from the 4th season of Northern Exposure (first aired 5-3-93) relates to Joel's (Rob Morrow) seeking out of ten Jews in remote Alaska to join him for Kaddish in memory of his recently departed Uncle Manny in New York City. Joel eventually decides, though, that saying Kaddish for his uncle is best accomplished in the presence of his new Cicely family, who although Gentile, are most near and dear to him.

Kaddish for an Unborn Child is a novel by the Hungarian Nobel Laureate Imre Kertesz.

Zadie Smith's novel "The Autograph Man" revolves around Alex-Li Tandem, a dealer in autograph memorabilia whose father's Yahrzeit is approaching. The epilogue of the novel features a scene in which Alex-Li recites Kaddish with a minyan.

In Frederick Forsyth's novel The Odessa File, a Jew who commits suicide in 1960s Germany requests in his diary/suicide note that someone say Kaddish for him in Israel. At the end of the Novel, a Mossad agent involved in the plot, who comes into possession of the diary, fulfils the dead man's wish.

Concept album Kaddish (1993) created by Richard Wolfson (musician) with Andy Saunders using the band name Towering Inferno.

The "Kaddish" can be heard in the 1980 movie "Jazz Singer" staring Neil diamond. Character "Cantor Rabinovitch" played by Sir Laurence Olivier says the Kaddish while disowning his son.The Kaddish helps bring forth the power needed to evoke the emotion of loss.

Mira Z. Amiras and Erin L. Vang have taken the Kaddish as a starting point for a yearlong collaboration entitled, "Kaddish in Two-Part Harmony," writing a joint blog and recording a daily podcast of Lev Kogan's "Kaddish" for solo horn at .

Kaddish is a female dance solo choreographed by Anna Sokolow to music by Maurice Ravel.

In the September 20, 1998 Rugrats comic strip the character Grandpa Boris recites the Mourner's Kaddish in the synagogue. This particular strip led to controversy with the Anti Defamation League.

References

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

Yesodot Tefillah, Rabbi Eliezer Levi, published by Abraham Zioni Publishing House,Israel 1977. P173

Kaddish is a female dance solo choreographed by Anna Sokolow to Maurice Ravel.

External links

Kaddish explanation at the Jewish Virtual Library

MP3 Audio of Kaddish Prayer

Virtual Cantor MP3s of all prayers said in the synagogue on weekdays and special days including numerous versions of the Kaddish

Kaddish explanation from aish.com. Includes links for Ashkenazi and Sephardi versions

Category:Bereavement in Judaism Category:Jewish prayer and ritual texts Category:Jewish theology Category:Aramaic words and phrases Category:Jewish services Category:Siddur