Kaddish

Medieval Commentators: 12th-15th cent.

Thus, one says Kadish in Aramaic. Since the prayer is so fitting and such great praise, it was established in the language of the Targum [the vernacular], so that the angels would not understand and become jealous. It is not that there are not other beautiful prayers in Hebrew, but is its apparent, as it is said in Tractate Sotah (49a) that the world only continues to exist because of the Kedusha d'Sidra and the response Yehei Shmei Rabba after agada. The people were accustomed to say Kaddish after a derasha, and, being ordinary folk, they did not understand the Holy [Hebrew] Tongue at all, so it was fixed in the vernacular which everyone understood.

Thus will I manifest My greatness and My holiness, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am Hashem.

Arba'ah Turim Yaakov ben Asher

Cologne 1270–Toledo c.1340

And why was the use of the word nehemata accepted? It was written that the Holy One was bothered by our exile and thus we pray that He will soon and quickly be consoled and redeem us.

The ReMA's gloss explaining Askenazi minhag: And when the son prays and sanctifies (says Kaddish) in public, he redeems his father and mother from Geihenom.

Therefore, I pray, let my Lord’s power be great, as You have declared, saying, ‘Hashem! slow to anger and abounding in kindness; forgiving iniquity and transgression; yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and fourth generations.’

The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, and Pethahiah said, “Rise, bless Hashem your God from eternity to eternity: ‘And they will bless Your glorious name, exalted beyond every blessing and praise!’

Blessed is Hashem, God of Israel, from eternity to eternity.” And all the people said, “Amen” and “Praise to Hashem.”

[Midrash Tana Debei Eliahu]...."yehi shmo..." was translated into Aramaic in Babylonia... it is the foundation of the Kaddish.

May The Tefila (Amida)/ The prayer be recited in any language? Rav Yehuda said: A person should never request that one's needs be met in the Aramaic language, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said, when one prays for his need in Aramaic the ministering angels do not pay attention, since the ministering angels do not recognize/comprehend [makkirin] Aramaic? The Gemara answers: This is not difficult, that (Rabbi Yoḥanan) is referring to the prayer of an individual, who needs the support of the angels, whereas this (the mishna) is referring to communal prayer.

Rabbi Yishmael said, Sasnegir Sar HaPanim conversed with me: my beloved, sit in my lap and I will tell you what will occur to Israel. I sat on his lap and he looked at me and cried, tears flowing from his eyes and falling upon me. I said to him, my splendid radiance, why are your crying? He said to me, come and I will bring you in and let you know what is decreed for Israel, the nation of holy people. He took me by the hand and brought me into the into the room of rooms, the most hidden places and the treasure houses. He took his journal, opened it and showed me writings about the afflictions, each different from the other. I said to him, my splendid radiance, whose are these? And he said to me: Israel’s. I asked him, can Israel withstand them? He said to me, come tomorrow and I will show you miseries different from the first ones. The next day he brought me into the room within rooms and showed me those taken captive, those starving, those pillaged. I said to him, has only Israel sinned? He said to me, every day the harsh decrees are renewed upon them But, since Israel enters the synagogues and houses of study, and answer “amen,t yehei Shemei Raba mevorakh l’olam u’lolmei almaya/ amen, let the Great Name be blessed for ever and throughout eternity" they [the harsh decrees] are not allowed to leave the inner chamber [SLS: i.e., the judgments and decrees are trapped there in potential form and are thus not actualized in the lives of Israel].

Who does not glorify the glorious King, who does not bless the Blessed King, who does not extol the Exalted King, who does not honor the Splendid King, who does not enthrone the King of Kings, who does not praise the Praiseworthy King, who does not sanctify the Holy King, may He be sanctified forever and for eternity? For, every day judgments and wonders are activated before the Holy One, each superior and different than the other, and He delights in us at the time of his children’s prayers. This teaches us how great is the power of the kaddish that prevents afflictions and gladdens the Holy One.

Late Tannaitic - Minor Tractate

This story of Rabbi Akiva's encounter with the soul of a sinner appears in many versions including the one below (not exact translation of the Hebrew text).

"The French halakhic work Mahzor Vitry (12th century) via this story, links this notion, (i.e., that the living can do good for the dead) with the Kaddish." - Alyssa Gray, My People's Prayer Book, Vol.6, p 157.

[Also see "Redeeming Powers Ascribed to the Ḳaddish", Jewish Encyclopedia

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9110-kaddish#anchor2]

See codification of this below - ReMA on Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 376:4.

Rabbi Akiva once saw a man struggling with a heavy burden on his shoulders and bemoaning his lot in life. Rabbi Akiva asked the man what his story was. The oppressed laborer replied that he was the soul of a person who committed every conceivable sin and that if he stopped to talk, he’d get in even more trouble.

The punishment of this particular sinner was to gather wood, which was used to burn him every day. Rabbi Akiva asked if there was any way to free this soul and the deceased replied that the only way was if he had a son who would stand in front of the congregation and say “Barchu es Hashem hamevorah” or “Yisgadal v’yiskadash…,” after which the congregation would reply, “Baruch Hashem hamevorah l’olam voed” or “Yehei shmei rabbah…,” respectively. (These are the prayers of Barchu and Kaddish, in which the leader of the service calls upon the congregation to praise God, which they then do.)

Finally, Rabbi Akiva asked the man who had survived him; the spirit replied that his wife had been pregnant when he died. Rabbi Akiva recorded the name of the deceased, the man’s wife, and his hometown so that he might investigate the matter.

Hurrying to the man’s city, Rabbi Akiva discovered that the deceased was particularly reviled by the townspeople. He had been a corrupt tax collector who took bribes from the rich and oppressed the poor. Among his more notorious deeds, the man had violated a betrothed girl on Yom Kippur! Rabbi Akiva located the widow, who had given birth to a son. So despised was her husband that no one had even circumcised the child. Rabbi Akiva took care of this grievous omission and, when the child was old enough, he taught him Torah and how to daven in shul, including the prayers the man had specified.

As soon as the boy recited the appropriate prayers, his father’s soul was relieved of its harsh punishments. The man’s spirit re-appeared to Rabbi Akiva in a dream to thank the scholar for saving him from the tortures of Gehinnom.

​https://www.ou.org/torah/tefillah/kaddish/why_do_we_say_kaddish_for_the_deceased

Arba'ah Turim Yaakov ben Asher

Cologne 1270–Toledo c.1340

atYitgadal v'yitkadash is based on the verse v'hitgadalti...that was said about the war of Gog and Magog when the Name of the Holy One will become great, as it is said in Zekharia "on that day Hashem will be one and His Name one"...

Why do we say Kadish in the language of the Targum (Aramaic)? Some say it is so that the angels won't be jealous of us when we offer such substantial praise. Also, because it reminds the Holy one of the destruction of the Temple and the exile of Israel...When Israel answers amen y-sh"r, The Holy Blessed One nods; for a Father to be praised by his children and to have distanced them from his table, He will, as it were, worry about them. And, if the Angels understood, they would testify against us. Thus we say it [Kadish] in the language they do not understand, because they do not recognize Aramaic. Rabbi Yosi explained the reason, as cited in Sotah 49b, that the people were used to saying Kadish after a derasha... and they were ordinary people who only recognized Aramaic, their vernacular, so they used to say it in the language that everyone understood.... [so that] one's decrees of judgment will be torn up (as described in Shabbat 119b)....

[See source #15 above for] Siddur of Rav Amram Gaon [which is quoted here]...

And why was the use of the word nehemata accepted? It was written that the Holy One was bothered by our exile and thus we pray that He will soon and quickly be consoled and redeem us. Thus is it was the custom to say "remember your compassion and love (Ps. 25:6)" when the sh"tz (prayer leader) would begin the kaddish to arouse the Trait of Compassion [so God would] remember us in that moment - and, similarly, one would say the verse "let Your power be great..." that uses the words similar to yitgadal said by the sh"tz.

Yosef Karo 1488-1575

One should have concentration when answering to kaddish. One should answer loudly and run to hear kaddish.

HaMapa (Moses Isserles 152-1572- the Rema's gloss): Answer with the congregation even if you arrive in synagogue after the leader already said yitgadal...and the prayer leader also says yhei Shmei Raba. And when you begin Yitgadal, intend the words of Numbers 14:17-18.

A numerous people is the splendor of a king; without a nation a ruler is ruined. - said Rabi Chama bar Chanina: Come and see the Holy One of Blessing's greatness and praise. Even though there are thousands of thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of squads of service angels that serve and praise God, God does not want their praises, rather, God wants the praises of Israel, as it is said "a numerous people is the splendor of the king". And "people" refers only to Israel, since it is written "this people that I created for Me will tell My praises" (Isaiah 33:21), because they will tell My praises in the world, and therefore it says "the generous ones of the peoples were gathered, the people of the God of Abraham; for to God belong the shields of the earth; God is greatly exalted." Said Rabbi Simon: When is the Holy One of Blessing exalted in God's world? When Israel gather in synagogues and study houses, and give praise and glory to their Creator. Rabbi Ishmael says: When Israel sits in study houses and listen to midrash agadah from the mouth of a sage, and after that they answer: "Amen. Yehi Sheme Rabah Mevorach", in that moment the Holy One of Blessing is happy and is exalted in God's world, and says to the angels of service: 'Come and see this people that I created in My world, how much they praise Me.' At that moment they [the angels] dress God with glory and splendor - and this is why it is written 'a numerous people is the splendor of the king.' "And in the lack of people a ruler is ruined" - if they make themselves lack words of Torah, even I will make words of Torah lack for them.