Customs
Kaddish may be spoken or chanted. In services on certain special occasions, it may be sung to special melodies. 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. Many mourners recite Kaddish slowly and contemplatively.
In Sephardi synagogues the whole congregation sits for Kaddish, except:
* During the Kaddish immediately before the Amidah, where everyone stands;
* During the Mourner's Kaddish, where those reciting it stand and everyone else sits.
In Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
synagogues, the custom varies. Very commonly, in both Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
and Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
congregations, everyone stands for the mourner's kaddish; but in some (especially many Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
and Sephardic
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
) 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 Mourner's Kaddish is often treated differently from the other variations of Kaddish in the service, as is the Half Kaddish before the maftir
Maftir ( he, מפטיר, , concluder) is the last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads (or at least recites the blessings overs) the ''haftarah'' portion from a related section of the Nevi'im (pro ...
.
Minyan requirement
''Masekhet Soferim'', an eighth-century compilation of Jewish laws regarding the preparation of holy books and public reading, states (Chapter 10:7) that Kaddish may be recited only in the presence of a
minyan
In Judaism, a ''minyan'' ( he, מניין \ מִנְיָן ''mīnyān'' , lit. (noun) ''count, number''; pl. ''mīnyānīm'' ) is the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. In more traditional streams of Jud ...
(a quorum of at least 10 men in Orthodox Judaism or 10 adults in Reform and Conservative Judaism). While the traditional view is that "If ''kaddish'' is said in private, then by definition it is not ''kaddish''," some alternatives have been suggested, including the ''Kaddish L'yachid'' ("Kaddish for an individual"), attributed to ninth-century
Gaon Amram bar Sheshna, and the use of
kavanah
Kavanah, kavvanah or kavana (also pronounced /kaˈvonə/ by some Ashkenazi Jews) (כַּוָּנָה; in Biblical Hebrew kawwānā), plural kavanot or kavanos (Ashkenazim), literally means "intention" or "sincere feeling, direction of the heart". ...
prayer, asking heavenly beings to join with the individual "to make a minyan of both Earth and heaven". In some Reform congregations, a minyan is not required for recitation of the Kaddish, but other Reform congregations disagree and believe that the Kaddish should be said publicly.
History and background
"The Kaddish is in origin a closing
doxology
A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , '' doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derive ...
to an
Aggadic
Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...
discourse."
[Pool, D. de S., ''The Kaddish'', Sivan Press, Ltd, Jerusalem, 1909, (3rd printing, 1964). (see ]David de Sola Pool
David de Sola Pool ( he, דוד די סולה פול; 1885–1970) was the leading 20th-century Sephardic rabbi in the United States. A scholar, author, and civic leader, he was a world leader of Judaism.
Biography Early life and educati ...
) Most of it is written in Aramaic, which, at the time of its original composition, was the
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
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
A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...
.
Professor
Yoel Elitzur, however, argues that the Kaddish was originally written in Hebrew, and later translated to Aramaic to be better understood by the masses. He notes that quotations from the Kaddish in the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
and
Sifrei
Sifre ( he, סִפְרֵי; ''siphrēy'', ''Sifre, Sifrei'', also, ''Sifre debe Rab'' or ''Sifre Rabbah'') refers to either of two works of ''Midrash halakha'', or classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Numbers a ...
are in Hebrew, and that even today some of the words are Hebrew rather than Aramaic.
The oldest version of the Kaddish is found in the ''
Siddur
A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.'
Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ' ...
of Rab
Amram Gaon
Amram Gaon ( he, עמרם גאון, or Amram bar Sheshna, Hebrew: עמרם בר רב ששנא, or sometimes: Amram ben Sheshna or Amram b. Sheshna; died 875) was a '' gaon'', head of the Jewish Talmud Academy of Sura during the 9th century.
H ...
'', c. 900. "The first mention of mourners reciting 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 Mourner's Kaddish (literally, "Orphan's Kaddish")."
The Kaddish was not always recited by mourners and instead became a prayer for mourners sometime between the 12th and 13th centuries when it started to be associated with a medieval legend about Rabbi Akiva who meets a dead man seeking redemption in the afterlife.
Hebrew reconstruction
Elitzur made an attempt at reconstructing the theorized original Hebrew version of Kaddish:
: יִתְגַּדֵּל וְיִתְקַדֵּשׁ שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל
: בָּעוֹלָם שֶׁבָּרָא כִּרְצוֹנוֹ
: וְתָמלוֹךְ מַלְכוּתוֹ בְּחַיֵּיכֶם וּבְיָמֵיכֶם וּבְחַיֵּיהֶם שֶׁל כֹל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּמְהֵרָה וּבִזְמָן קָרוֹב
: יְהִי שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל מְבוֹרָךְ לְעוֹלָם וּלְעוֹלְמֵי עוֹלָמִים
Rabbi
David Bar-Hayim
David Hanoch Yitzchak Bar-Hayim (Hebrew: דוד חנוך יצחק ב"ר חיים; born Mandel; born 24 February 1960) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi who heads the Shilo Institute (''Machon Shilo''), a Jerusalem-based rabbinical court and institut ...
also attempted a reconstruction:
: יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא
: בָּעוֹלָם שֶׁבָּרָא כִּרְצוֹנוֹ
: וְיֵמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתוֹ בְּחַיֵּיכֶם וּבִימֵיכֶם וּבְחַיֵּי כֹל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּמְהֵרָה וּבִזְמָן קָרוֹב
: יְהִי שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל מְבוֹרָךְ לְעוֹלָם וּלְעוֹלְמֵי עוֹלָמִים
Mourner's Kaddish
Mourner's Kaddish is said in most communities at all prayer services and certain other occasions. It is written in
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
. 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
''Aleinu'' (Hebrew: , lit. "upon us", meaning " t isour duty") or ''Aleinu leshabei'ach'' (Hebrew: " t isour duty to praise Names_of_God_in_Judaism">God.html" ;"title="Names_of_God_in_Judaism.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Names of God in Judaism">God"> ...
and/or closing
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
and/or (on the Sabbath) Ani'im Zemirot. In most communities, Kaddish is recited eleven months after the death of a parent, and then at every anniversary of the death (the
Yahrzeit
Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of ''minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community.
Mourners
In Judaism, the p ...
). Technically, there is no obligation to recite Kaddish for other relatives, even though there is an obligation to mourn for them.
Customs for reciting the Mourner's Kaddish vary markedly among various communities. In Sephardi synagogues, the custom is that all the mourners stand and chant the Kaddish together. In
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
synagogues before the 19th century, one mourner was chosen to lead the prayer on behalf of the rest, but gradually over the last two centuries, most (but certainly not all) communities have adopted the Sephardi custom. In many Reform synagogues, the entire congregation recites the Mourner's 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 and in support of the mourners.
In some congregations (especially Reform and Conservative ones), the Rabbi reads a list of the deceased who have a
Yahrzeit
Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of ''minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community.
Mourners
In Judaism, the p ...
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, especially Orthodox and Conservative ones, multiply the number of times that the Mourner's Kaddish is recited, for example by reciting a separate Mourner's Kaddish after both Aleinu and then each closing Psalm. Other synagogues limit themselves to one Mourner's Kaddish at the end of the service.
Notably, the Mourner's 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 Malei Rachamim "El Malei Rachamim" (Hebrew: אֵל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים, lit. "God full of Mercy" or "Merciful God"), is a Jewish prayer for the soul of a person who has died, usually recited at the graveside during the burial service and at memorial serv ...
", which specifically prays for the soul of the deceased. The Mourner's Kaddish can be more accurately represented as an expression of "justification for judgment" by the mourners on their loved ones' behalf. It is believed that mourners adopted this version of the Kaddish around the 13th century during harsh persecution of Jews by crusaders in Germany because of the opening messianic line about God bringing the dead back to life (though this line is not in many modern versions).
Women and the Mourner's Kaddish
There is evidence of some women saying the Mourner's Kaddish for their parents at the grave, during
shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
, and in daily prayers since the 17th century. Rabbi
Yair Bacharach
Rabbi Yair Chayim Bacharach (1639, Lipník nad Bečvou, Moravia — 1702; also known by his work Chavos Yair) was a German rabbi and major 17th century posek, who lived first in Koblenz and then the remainder of his life in Worms and Mainz. H ...
concluded that technically a woman can recite the Mourner's Kaddish, but concludes that since this is not the common practice, it should be discouraged. As such, women reciting kaddish is controversial in some Orthodox communities, and it is almost unheard of in
Haredi communities. Nevertheless, Rabbi
Aharon Soloveichik ruled that in our time, we should permit women to say Kaddish, and this is a common (but not universal) practice in all
Modern Orthodox
Modern may refer to:
History
*Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Philosoph ...
circles. In 2013 the Israeli Orthodox rabbinical organization Beit Hillel issued a halachic ruling that women may say the Kaddish in memory of their deceased parents (in presence of male minyan). In Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism, the Mourner's Kaddish is traditionally said by women who are there also counted in the minyan.
Use of the Kaddish in the arts
The Kaddish has been a particularly common theme and reference point in the arts, including the following:
In literature and publications
(Alphabetical by author)
* In Shai Afsai's
The Kaddish (2010), a poignant short story that could happen in almost any town with a small Jewish community, a group of elderly men trying to form a minyan in order to recite the Kaddish confront the differences between Judaism's denominations.
* In the first chapter of
Sholem Aleichem
)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = New York City, U.S.
, occupation = Writer
, nationality =
, period =
, genre = Novels, sh ...
's novel ''
Motl, Peysi the Cantor's Son
''Motl, Peysi the Cantor's Son'', subtitled ''The Writings of an Orphan Boy'' (מאָטל פּייסי דעם חזנס; כתבֿים פֿון אַ ייִנגל אַ יתום — ''motl peysi dem khazns; ksovim fun a yingl a yosem''), is the last n ...
'' the boy narrator, whose father just died, needs to quickly learn by heart the Kaddish - which he would have to recite - and struggling with the incomprehensible Aramaic words.
* ''Kaddish'' is a poem, divided into 21 sections and of almost 700 pages length, by German poet Paulus Böhmer. The first ten sections appeared in 2002, the remaining eleven in 2007. It celebrates the world, through mourning its demise.
* ''Kaddish in Dublin'' (1990) crime novel by John Brady where an Irish Jew is involved with a plot to subvert the Irish government.
*
Nathan Englander
Nathan Englander (born 1970) is an American short story writer and novelist. His debut short story collection, ''For the Relief of Unbearable Urges,'' was published by Alfred A. Knopf, in 1999. His second collection, ''What We Talk About When We ...
's third novel, ''Kaddish.com'' (2019), is about a grieving son who discovers a website that for a fee will match dead relatives with pious students who will recite the Mourner's Kaddish thrice daily on their behalf. In this manner, he outsources his obligation to recite kaddish for his father.
* In
Nathan Englander
Nathan Englander (born 1970) is an American short story writer and novelist. His debut short story collection, ''For the Relief of Unbearable Urges,'' was published by Alfred A. Knopf, in 1999. His second collection, ''What We Talk About When We ...
's novel set during the Dirty Wars in Argentina, ''The Ministry of Special Cases'', the protagonist is an Argentinian Jew named Kaddish.
* In ''
Torch Song Trilogy
''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: ''International Stud'', ''Fugue in a Nursery'', and ''Widows and Children First!'' The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag ...
'' (1982), written by
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'' and '' Hairspray'' and movie roles in '' Mrs. Doubtfire'', ''Independence Day'', an ...
, the main character Arnold Beckoff says the Mourner's Kaddish for his murdered lover, Alan, much to the horror of his homophobic mother.
* In
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', '' The Fourth Protocol'', '' The Dogs of War'', ''The Devil's Alter ...
's novel ''
The Odessa File
''The Odessa File'' is a thriller by English writer Frederick Forsyth, first published in 1972, about the adventures of a young German reporter attempting to discover the location of a former SS concentration-camp commander.
The name ODESSA ...
'', 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.
* ''
Kaddish
Kaddish or Qaddish or Qadish ( arc, קדיש "holy") is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, different version ...
'' is one of the most celebrated poems by the
beat
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery (c ...
poet
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
. It appeared in ''Kaddish and Other Poems'', a collection he published in 1961. The poem was dedicated to his mother, Naomi Ginsberg (1894–1956).
* ''
Kaddish
Kaddish or Qaddish or Qadish ( arc, קדיש "holy") is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, different version ...
'', a novel by
Yehiel De-Nur
Yehiel De-Nur (; ''De-Nur'' means 'of the fire' in Aramaic language, Aramaic; also Romanized ''Dinoor, Di-Nur''), also known by his pen name Ka-Tsetnik 135633, born Yehiel Feiner (16 May 1909 – 17 July 2001), was a Jewish writer and Holocaust s ...
, in which he explores actual, semi-fictional, and fictional stories relating to
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
struggles during
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
* ''
Kaddish for an Unborn Child'' is a novel by the Hungarian Nobel Laureate
Imre Kertész
Imre Kertész (; 9 November 192931 March 2016) was a Hungarian author and recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature, "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history". He was ...
.
* "Who Will Say Kaddish?: A Search for Jewish Identity in Contemporary Poland," text by Larry N Mayer with photographs by Gary Gelb (Syracuse University Press, 2002)
* In the September 20, 1998 Nickolodeon's ''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
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
.
* The Mystery of Kaddish. Rav "DovBer Pinson". Explains and explores the Kabbalistic and deeper meaning of the Kaddish.
* In
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer.
Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...
's novel ''
The Human Stain
''The Human Stain'' is a novel by Philip Roth, published May 5, 2000. The book is set in Western Massachusetts in the late 1990s. It is narrated by 65-year-old author Nathan Zuckerman, who appears in several earlier Roth novels, and who also fig ...
'', 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."
* “Kaddish” is the penultimate and longest piece in poet Sam Sax's
chapbook
A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch.
In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...
''STRAIGHT'', in which he tells the story of the death of the speaker’s first love due to an overdose, following narratives of the speaker’s own addiction. In August 2016, Sax performed this poem at the Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam.
*
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...
's novel, ''
The Autograph Man
''The Autograph Man'', published in 2002, is the second novel by Zadie Smith. It follows the progress of a Jewish-Chinese Londoner named Alex-Li Tandem, who buys and sells autographs for a living and is obsessed with celebrities. Eventually, hi ...
'', revolves around Alex-Li Tandem, a dealer in autograph memorabilia whose father's
Yahrzeit
Bereavement in Judaism () is a combination of ''minhag'' and ''mitzvah'' derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community.
Mourners
In Judaism, the p ...
is approaching. The epilogue of the novel features a scene in which Alex-Li recites Kaddish with a minyan.
* Several references to the Mourner's Kaddish are made in ''
Night
Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...
'' by
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...
. Though the prayer is never directly said, references to it are common, including to times when it is customarily recited, but omitted.
* Leon Wieseltier's ''Kaddish'' (1998) is a book length hybrid of memoirs (of the author's year of mourning after the death of his father), history, historiography and philosophical reflection, all centered on the mourner's Kaddish.
In music
(Alphabetical by creator)
* Matthew J. Armstrong quotes the final lines ('oseh shalom bimromav...) in his work ''"Elegy for Dachau"'' (2009).
* ''Kaddish'' is the name of
Symphony No. 3 by
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
, a dramatic work for orchestra, mixed chorus, boys' choir, speaker and soprano solo dedicated to the memory of
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
who was assassinated on November 22, 1963, just weeks before the first performance of this symphony. The symphony is centered on the Kaddish text.
* The Kaddish is spoken in Part V of the Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service) by the composer
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...
(1933).
* Canadian poet/songwriter/artist Leonard Cohen uses words from the Kaddish in his 2016 final album entitled "
You Want It Darker
''You Want It Darker'' is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on October 21, 2016, by Columbia Records, 17 days before Cohen's death. The album was created at the end of his life and focuses on death ...
", specifically in the title song, during the chorus.
* ''Kaddish'' is a work for cello and orchestra by
David Diamond.
* The Israeli rapper
Dudu Faruk
Ori Comay (born October 21, 1996), better known by his stage name and parody character Dudu Faruk is an Israeli rapper, singer and actor. His musical style is trap integrated with mizrahi music. The lyrics of his songs discuss violence and sexua ...
has mentioned the kaddish in the lyrics of his 2018 song, "Eliran Sabag"
* Kaddish is a track by
Gina X Performance
Gina X Performance (commonly abbreviated as GXP) was a German dance-rock/electropop project from Cologne, Germany, consisting of singer and lyricist Gina Kikoine and writer and producer Zeus B. Held, accompanied by various studio and live musici ...
.
* "Kaddish" is the 34th movement in ''
La Pasión según San Marcos'' by composer
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work.
Biography
Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family ...
.
* "Kaddish" is a song by
Ofra Haza
Bat-Sheva Ofra Haza ( he, בת-שבע עפרה חזה; 19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000), known as Ofra Haza (), was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actress, and Grammy Award-nominated recording artist commonly known in the Western world as ...
from her album ''
Desert Wind
The ''Desert Wind'' was an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that ran from 1979 to 1997. It operated from Chicago to Los Angeles as a section of the ''California Zephyr'', serving Los Angeles via Salt Lake City; Ogden, Utah; and Las Vegas.
...
''.
* Nili Isenberg put the words of kaddish to the tune of
Hello (Adele song)
"Hello" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele, released on 23 October 2015 by XL Recordings as the lead single from her third studio album, '' 25'' (2015). Written by Adele and with its producer, Greg Kurstin, "Hello" is a pian ...
while reciting kaddish for her father.
* ''Kaddish'' is the title of a 1979 composition for solo horn by the Russian-Israeli composer Lev Kogan (1927-2007).
* ''Kaddish'' is the title for a work by
W. Francis McBeth
William Francis McBeth (March 9, 1933 – January 6, 2012) was an American composer, whose wind band works are highly respected. His primary musical influences included Clifton Williams, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson. The popularity of his ...
for a concert band, based on the chant of the prayer. McBeth composed this work as a memorial for his teacher
J. Clifton Williams.
* ''Kaddish (ladder) canon'' is the final piece on the album "These are the Generations" by
Larry Polansky
Larry Polansky (born 1954) is a composer, guitarist, mandolinist, and professor emeritus at Dartmouth College and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a founding member and co-director of Frog Peak Music (a composers' collective) ...
. It is an elegy for friends recently lost.
* The French composer
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
composed a song for voice and piano 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.
* ''Kaddish Shalem'' is a musical work by
Salamone Rossi
Salamone Rossi or Salomone Rossi ( he, סלומונה רוסי or שלמה מן האדומים) (Salamon, Schlomo; de' Rossi) (ca. 1570 – 1630) was an Italian Jewish violinist and composer. He was a transitional figure between the late Ita ...
(1570–c. 1628), composed for five voices in
homophonic
In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that flesh ...
style, the very first
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
setting of this text, in his "Hashirim Asher L'Shomo",
The Song of Solomon.
* ''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
Keene State College is a public liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire and the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college (originally, Keene Norm ...
Chamber Singers in 2008.
*
Mieczysław Weinberg
Mieczysław Weinberg (8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet composer and pianist.
Names
Much confusion has been caused by different renditions of the composer's names. In official Polish documents made before he mov ...
's
Symphony No. 21 is subtitled "Kaddish". The symphony, composed in 1991, is dedicated to
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
victims from the
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...
.
* Concept album ''
Kaddish
Kaddish or Qaddish or Qadish ( arc, קדיש "holy") is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, different version ...
'' (1993) created by
Richard Wolfson with Andy Saunders using the band name
Towering Inferno.
In visual arts
(Alphabetical by creator)
* Potter Steven Branfman threw
chawan
A ''chawan'' (; literally "tea bowl") is a bowl used for preparing and drinking tea. Many types of ''chawan'' are used in East Asian tea ceremonies. The choice of their use depends upon many considerations.
History
The ''chawan'' originated i ...
(Japanese style tea bowls) every day for a year in honor of his departed son Jared. For a year, they were the only pots he made. One chawan each day, no matter where he was. He and his family said Kaddish every day for a year. His daily chawan made at his
potter's wheel
In pottery, a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that is stiff but malleable, a ...
was his own personal Kaddish. The exhibition is also included in ''The Teabowl: East and West'', by Bonnie Kemske.
* Artist
Mauricio Lasansky
Mauricio Leib Lasansky (October 12, 1914 – April 2, 2012) was an Argentine artist and educator known both for his advanced techniques in intaglio printmaking and for a series of 33 pencil drawings from the 1960s titled "The Nazi Drawings." ...
, familiar with Kaddish from his background, produced his Kaddish series of eight
intaglio prints, ten years after his Nazi Drawings, his statement of Nazi destruction and degradation. In 1978, the Argentine-born 62 year-old Lasansky completed his answer of peace and survival, his Kaddish prints.
* Artist Max Miller traveled from synagogue to synagogue throughout New York and beyond, reciting the daily prayer in memory of his father and then painting a
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
study of the synagogue in which he recited it.
* Following the deaths of both her parents within one week of one another, artist Wendy Meg Siegel created a
painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
with a focus on the Kaddish, as part of her
canvas
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
on canvas "text-tures" series, which explores methods of combining text and canvas in a somewhat “sculptural” manner.
Online
(Alphabetical by creator)
* Mira Z. Amiras and Erin L. Vang have taken the Kaddish as a starting point for a yearlong
collaboration
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
titled, "Kaddish in Two-Part Harmony", consisting of a jointly written
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
and daily
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
recording of Lev Kogan's "Kaddish" for solo
horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
.
* David Bogomolny
chronicled his yearlong recitation of kaddish in honor of his
father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
Dr.
Alexander Bogomolny
Alexander Bogomolny (January 4, 1948 July 7, 2018) was a Soviet-born Israeli-American mathematician. He was Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Iowa, and formerly research fellow at the Moscow Institute of Electronics and M ...
, originally on
The Times of Israel
''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman. blogs
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
, in a series titled, "The
skeptic
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the ...
's kaddish for the
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
", consisting of
traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
Judaism, Jewish sources, religious text analysis, modernity, modern interpretations and expressions of kaddish, philosophy, theology, eschatology, creative writing, and the personal self-reflection, reflections; memories; and experiences of a son in mourning.
* From 2016-2017 Rabbi Ariana Katz recorded a
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
called "Kaddish" focused on mourning ritual and customs, featuring grammatical person, first person storytelling and interview, interviews, using Jews, Jewish tradition to contextualism, contextualize and deepen theme (narrative), themes of the show, and holding space at the intersection of life and death. "Kaddish" covered topics including mourning chosen family, reproduction, reproductive loss, illness, ritual writing, suicide, LGBT burial, tattoos and religious conversion#Judaism, conversion status, and state violence. Featured guests sharing, shared their personal and professional expert, expertise and narrative, story.
Onscreen, in film
(Chronological)
* In the 1973 film ''Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob'' (''The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob''), it is chanted at the end of the Bar-Mitzvah service.
* In the film ''The Passover Plot (film), The Passover Plot'' (1976), a revived Jesus dies finally and is mourned with a Kaddish recitation by a disciple.
* In the 1980 film ''The Jazz Singer (1980 film), The Jazz Singer'' starring Neil Diamond, character Cantor Rabinovitch (Laurence Olivier) says the Kaddish while disowning his son. The Kaddish helps bring forth the power needed to evoke the emotion of loss.
* In ''Rocky III'' (1982), Rocky Balboa (character), Rocky Balboa recites the Mourner's Kaddish for Mickey.
* In the film ''Yentl (film), Yentl'' (1983), at Yentl's 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.
* Steve Brand's feature documentary ''Kaddish'' (1984), about Yossi Klein Halevi's growing up as the child of his Holocaust survivor father, was named by the New York-based Village Voice as one of the ten best films of the year. It won the Special Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival.
* In ''Torch Song Trilogy (film), Torch Song Trilogy'' (1988), Arnold (portrayed by playwright
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'' and '' Hairspray'' and movie roles in '' Mrs. Doubtfire'', ''Independence Day'', an ...
) says the Mourner's Kaddish for his murdered lover, Alan, and Arnold's mother (portrayed by Anne Bancroft) strongly protests.
* The Kaddish is recited in the film ''Schindler's List'' (1993), in the last scene at the factory.
* Film ''Saying the Kaddish'' (1999) by Dan Frazer
* Konstantin Fam's ''Kaddish'' (2019) centers on the testament of a former concentration camp prisoner who confronts and turns the lives of two young people from different worlds around, shedding light on the tragic history of their family.
* The Kaddish as a form of religious excommunication (when recited for someone still alive) appears in the fantasy-documentary A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff: The Film, A Kaddish For Bernie Madoff (2021), created by musician/poet Alicia Jo Rabins and directed by Alicia J. Rose. The film tells the story of Madoff and the system that allowed him to function for decades through the eyes of Rabins, who watches the financial crash from her 9th floor studio in an abandoned office building on Wall Street.
Onscreen, in television
(Alphabetical by program title)
* In the television series ''Babylon 5'', Lt. Comdr. Susan Ivanova finally decides to sit Shiva and recite the Mourner's Kaddish at the end of episode "TKO" (Season 1, Ep. 14), for her father with an old family friend, Rabbi Koslov, who has come to the station to urge her to mourn.
* In the television series ''Drawn Together'', Toot Braunstein recites the Mourner's Kaddish in the episode "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special", after saying that her son was (metaphorically) dead.
* In the television show ''Everwood'', Ephram Brown recites the Mourner's Kaddish at his mother's Bereavement in Judaism#Unveiling of the tombstone, unveiling.
* In the second-season finale of Homeland (TV series), Homeland, The Choice (Homeland), The Choice, CIA agent Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) recites the Mourner's Kaddish while standing over the corpses of victims of a terrorist attack.
* "Homicide: Life on the Street (season 5), Kaddish" is the title of ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' episode 5.17, in which detective John Munch (Richard Belzer), who is Jewish, investigates the rape and murder of his childhood sweetheart.
* ''List of Northern Exposure episodes#Season 4: (1992–1993), Kaddish For Uncle Manny''", episode 4.22 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.
* In the television show ''The Patient'', episode 1.7, Dr. Strauss recites the Kaddish for his recently deceased wife.
* The second season of the series Quantico (TV series), Quantico, FBI Special Agent Nimah Amin, herself a Muslim, recites the Mourner's Kaddish at Simon Asher's unveiling.
* The fictional character Dan Turpin was killed by Darkseid in ''Superman: The Animated Series'', and a Rabbi said Kaddish at his funeral. An onscreen, post-episode message dedicated the episode to Jack Kirby, a Jewish comic book artist, who influenced much of the comic book community.
* In the series ''Touched by an Angel'', episode 3.5 (season 3, episode 5), Henry Moskowitz, a proud archaeologist on a dig at a Navajo excavation site, receives a surprise visit from zayda (grandfather). Sam hopes to reconcile with his grandson and Jewish family faith by asking him to say kaddish.
"Written in Dust"
tv.com
* "Kaddish (The X-Files), Kaddish" is the title of ''The X-Files'' episode 4.15 (season 4, episode 15), in which a Golem is avenging a murder.
Onstage, in dance, theater and musicals
* In Tony Kushner's play ''Angels in America'' (and the subsequent TV Angels in America (miniseries), miniseries), the characters of Louis Ironson and Ethel Rosenberg say the Kaddish over Roy Cohn's dead body. Louis, a non-practicing Jew, mistakenly identifies the Kaddish as being written in Hebrew.
* ''Kaddish'' is a female dance solo choreographed by Anna Sokolow to music by Maurice Ravel.
* The Mourner's Kaddish can be heard being recited by Collins and Roger during the song "La Vie Boheme" in the musical ''Rent (musical), Rent''.
See also
* Bereavement in Judaism
References
; Notes
; Bibliography
* 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.
* De Sola Pool, Kaddish (1909
The Kaddish
External links
Jewish Virtual Library - Jewish Prayers: The Mourner's Kaddish
Neirot Foundation: The Importance of Kaddish
myKaddish.com
The Kaddish Foundation: A non-profit who recite the Kaddish every day for eleven months following the death of a Jewish relative, loved-one or friend.
Birkat Hamazon: Kaddish
{{The Jazz Singer
Aramaic words and phrases
Aramaic words and phrases in Jewish law
Aramaic words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings
Bereavement in Judaism
Jewish life cycle
Jewish prayer and ritual texts
Jewish theology