18 Facts About Kaddish

1.

Kaddish or Qaddish or Qadish is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services.

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2.

The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name.

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3.

Term Kaddish is often used to refer specifically to "The Mourner's Kaddish, " which is chanted as part of the mourning rituals in Judaism in all prayer services, as well as at funerals and memorials; for 11 Hebrew months after the death of a parent; and in some communities for 30 days after the death of a spouse, sibling, or child.

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4.

Mourners recite Kaddish to show that despite the loss they still praise God.

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5.

Half Kaddish is used to punctuate divisions within the service: for example, before Barechu, after the Amidah, and following readings from the Torah.

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6.

Kaddish d'Rabbanan is used after any part of the service that includes extracts from the Mishnah or the Talmud, as its original purpose was to close a study session.

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7.

Opening words of the Kaddish are inspired by Ezekiel 38:23's vision of God becoming great in the eyes of all the nations.

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8.

Professor Yoel Elitzur argues that the Kaddish was originally written in Hebrew, and later translated to Aramaic to be better understood by the masses.

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9.

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.

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10.

Mourner's Kaddish is said in most communities at all prayer services and certain other occasions.

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11.

In most communities, Kaddish is recited eleven months after the death of a parent, and then at every anniversary of the death.

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12.

Technically, there is no obligation to recite Kaddish for other relatives, even though there is an obligation to mourn for them.

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13.

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.

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14.

The Mourner's Kaddish can be more accurately represented as an expression of "justification for judgment" by the mourners on their loved ones' behalf.

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15.

Rabbi Yair Bacharach 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.

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16.

Nevertheless, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik ruled that in our time, we should permit women to say Kaddish, and this is a common practice in Modern Orthodox circles.

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17.

In Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism, the Mourner's Kaddish is traditionally said by women who are counted in the minyan.

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18.

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

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