Candle lighting time is 4:41
Mourner’s Kaddish
Kaddish is a prayer that we say in various forms many times during our services. There is the Reader’s Kaddish, the half Kaddish, the Rabbis’ Kaddish (Kaddish D’Rabbanan) and, of course, the Mourner’s Kaddish.
The Mourner’s Kaddish itself is said some seven times during our Sabbath service if a minyan is present.
If you go to services on any kind of regular basis, you are familiar with the start of the Kaddish, Yisgaddal veyisgaddash shmeh rabba.
It is one of the most memorable lines in the entire service, but it is also a line that we dread having to say because many of us recite the Mourner’s Kaddish only if we are mourning the loss of a parent, sibling or child. (In recent years, many shuls, including our own, have the entire congregation, even those who are not in mourning, recite the final Kaddish of the service together).
For mourners, the Kaddish is to be said daily for the first eleven months after the death of our loved one, and on the Yahrzeit, or anniversary, of the loved one’s death.
And yet, although we say the Kaddish in mourning, the Kaddish is not a prayer about death, nor is death even mentioned in the prayer. The prevailing theme of Kaddish is actually how glorious and great our God is.
Let’s look at the translation of the Kaddish as found at myjewishlearning.org. (Usually I use the Birnbaum translations, but I do not have mine with me today).
Glorified and sanctified be God’s great name throughout the world
which He has created according to His will.
May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime and during your days,
and within the life of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon;
and say, Amen.
May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity.
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored,
adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that
are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us
and for all Israel; and say, Amen.
He who creates peace in His celestial heights,
may He create peace for us and for all Israel;
and say, Amen.
The first line is truly magnificent, as we glorify God’s name and recognize that the entire world is His domain, His creation.
We then pray that God’s rule be accepted universally in our lifetime and we all, mourner and non-mourner alike, say, Yehei shmëh rabba mevarakh lealam ulalmey almaya, “May His great name be blessed forever and to all eternity, a public declaration of God’s greatness and eternalness.
And can there be any more powerful expression of our adoration of God than this:
Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored,
adored and lauded be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,
beyond all the blessings and hymns, praises and consolations that
are ever spoken in the world; and say, Amen.
Yes, the Mourner’s Kaddish does not mention death at all, but at the hardest time that many of us will ever experience in our lifetime, at a time in which we may be tempted to question God for taking our dearest relatives, we do not express grief or sorrow, we do not express frustration, anger, or doubts, but instead we affirm our faith and extoll our God and maker. To me, this is the essence of our faith, our Judaism, a religion in which we revere our God even in our times of sorrow as well as joy.