Background
The Kaddish is a prayer of particular significance in the world of Judaism. It is written in Aramaic and opens with the words “May His great Name be exalted and sanctified.” Kaddish may be recited only in the presence of a minyan—a group of ten Jewish men above the age of thirteen.
The Kaddish is a fundamental component of a funeral or yahrzeit (the anniversary of a death), but it also serves as an integral part of the prayer services. The Kaddish appears at several junctures during every prayer service, primarily functioning as a conclusion to a set of prayers.
During the prayer services, Kaddish is recited by the chazzan, with the congregation answering Amen after each portion of the Kaddish. The Orphans’ Kaddish is recited by any person in the synagogue who is in the midst of the year of mourning for a parent or is observing the anniversary of the death of a relative, or by any other individual who has lost a parent.
Kaddish is recited in Aramaic, the language of the Gemara. Since Aramaic was the commonly spoken language during the Talmudic era, this indicates that the Kaddish was commonly recited even by simple people who were not versed in the Hebrew language and spoke only Aramaic. Thus, the Kaddish has been preserved in its original language because it was the joint property, so to speak, of the entire nation.
We are taught that there are angels whose function is to carry our prayers up to Heaven. These angels examine every prayer to make sure that the prayer itself, as well as the supplicant who uttered it, is fitting to be brought before the King of the world. The angels have the ability to “block” a prayer from traveling up to Heaven, but there is one language with which they are unfamiliar—the Aramaic language. Due to their lack of understanding of that language, the angels cannot prevent prayers in Aramaic from rising to Heaven. For that reason, there are several passages in Aramaic that are interspersed throughout the prayer service.
The meaning of Kaddish
Contrary to popular opinion, the Kaddish contains no reference to mourning or consolation. The subject of Kaddish is the greatness and sanctity of G-d; it is a prayer in which we beseech G-d to reveal His name and sovereignty in the world, to bring the Messiah, and to cause peace to prevail throughout the world.
The congregation answers Amen after each stanza of the Kaddish. The word “Amen” functions as a confirmation of what the chazzan has said. It also has a deeper meaning; the Hebrew letters of the word “Amen” stand for “E-l Melech Ne’eman—G-d, the trustworthy King.” In other words, the word Amen is an assertion that G-d, our King, can be trusted to fulfill the request.
One of the pivotal portions of the Kaddish is the declaration of “Yehei shemeih rabbah mevorach l’olam u’l’olmei olmaya— May His great Name be blessed forever and for all eternity.” Our Sages teach us that a person who recites these words with all of his strength is granted immense reward: Any decree that has been issued against him in Heaven is “torn up” as a result!
The types of Kaddish
There are a few different versions of Kaddish. The beginning of each version, which is the primary part of the Kaddish, is identical; they differ only in terms of what follows the first paragraph.
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- Half Kaddish consists of only the main part of the Kaddish, with no additional lines. Its primary function is to separate various portions of the prayer services from each other. For instance, the half Kaddish is recited after the conclusion of Pesukei D’Zimrah, before the blessings of the Shema. It is also recited between the Shemoneh Esrei and the Torah reading and before the Shemoneh Esrei of the afternoon and evening prayers. In general, the half Kaddish is recited by the chazzan.
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Click here for the text of theHalf Kaddish
- Full Kaddish (also known as the Kaddish of Titkabel) consists of the text of the half Kaddish followed by an additional three requests: one for the prayers of the Jewish people to be accepted, one for a good life, and one for peace to prevail within the nation. This Kaddish is recited once during every prayer service, following the recitation of Shemoneh Esrei (in the morning prayers, after the prayer of Uva L’Tzion), due to the supplication it contains for the Jewish people’s prayers to be accepted. Only the chazzan recites this Kaddish.
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- The Orphans’ Kaddish is similar to the full Kaddish, but the line beginning with the word Titkabel, which beseeches G-d to accept His people’s prayers, is omitted. It is sometimes called “the Kaddish of Yehei Shelama” because of the Aramaic words that immediately follow the first part of the Kaddish. This Kaddish is not recited by the chazzan; instead, it is recited by a mourner, a person observing the anniversary of a relative’s death, or any other person who does not still have both parents living. It is recited after the Song of the Day, at the end of the prayer services, and after the recitation of Tehillim.
Click here for the text of the Orphans’ Kaddish
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- Kaddish Derabbanan is also known as the Kaddish of Al Yisrael, after the lengthy paragraph that follows the first portion of the Kaddish. It contains the same text as the Orphan’s Kaddish, with the addition of a new paragraph before the final two requests, in which we beseech G-d to bless the Torah scholars of the Jewish people. Like the Orphans’ Kaddish, this Kaddish is customarily recited by mourners or orphans in many congregations.
Click here for the text of the “Rabbi’s Kaddish”
