דיני קדיש וברכו

(1) The Kaddish is great and awesome praise that the Men of the Great Assembly fixed after the destruction of the First Temple. It is a prayer about the desecration of the Blessed Name from the destruction of the Sanctuary, the decimation of the Holy Land, and the dispersion of Israel to the 4 corners of the earth. We pray 'let the Blessed name be magnified and sanctified' as the prophet said: "I will make myself greater and more sanctified and be known to the nations, and they will know that I am Hashem." As R. Yosi said at the beginning of Berakhot, once a Bat Kol was heard cooing like a dove and saying: 'Oy to the children, that because of their sins, I destroyed My house, and burned my temple, and exiled them...' And Eliahu the prophet said to him, that three times each day a Bat Kol like this is heard. And further, at the time Israel enters its synagogues and study halls, and they answer 'amen! yehei shmei raba...amen ! May His great Name be blessed', the Holy One of Blessing nods his head and says, 'happy is the King who is praised like this in His house. What it is to be a Father who exiled His children? And woe to the children who were exiled from the table of their Father.' And because of its elevated status, it was decreed that it [the Kaddish] would be recited in Aramaic, because in Babylonia they spoke this language. And thus, so that everyone would understand it, [the Kaddish] was established in the spoken tongue. And, additionally, there are hidden reasons for this.

(3) R. Yosi said at the beginning of Berakhot that one time a Divine Voice was heard

(4) R. Yosi said at the beginning of Berakhot that one time a Divine Voice was heard

(4) R. Yosi said at the beginning of Berakhot that one time a Divine Voice was heard

(3) One who speaks between Yishtabah and Yotzer - it is a sin in his hand, and would be required to return from the battlefield [due to fear of sin leading to death] (see Deut. 24, Sotah 44b). But there are those who say that it is permitted to interrupt at that point for communal needs or to bestow charity to those who come to be provided for from charity. Gloss: From this stems the custom in many places to say a blessing for the sick or for a claimant to ask for judgement between Yishtabah and Yotzer, because these are instances of (interruptions for) the purpose of a mitzvah. And after that, when they resume praying, the leader says a bit of pesukei dezimra and then kaddish on those verses, since we do not say kaddish without a psalm before it. This is why the evening service begins without a kaddish (Kol Bo), and why one who did not have a tallit or tefillin at the start of the (morning) service and one was brought to them between Yishtabah and kaddish, can put them on and say the blessings. But between kaddish and Barkhu, one must not stop for any purpose (Or Zarua), and all the more so not stop after the leader has said Barkhu and before they begin saying the Yotzer blessing (Beit Yosef).

(1) The say Kaddish, and it is not said with less than ten males, who are free and have grown two [pubic] hairs, and this is the rule for Kedushah and Barchu that are not said with less than ten.

(2) If the chazzan started kaddish or kedusha with 10 people and a few left he can finish the kaddish and kedusha that he started as long as the majority of them remain. Gloss: Nevertheless, it is a sin to leave ... but if there are 10 people remaining it is allowed

(6) If one of the 10 started to pray and [being in a section where he] could not answer with them or he is sleeping, even this one is included with them.

(1) LAWS OF THE CONGREGATION'S RESPONDING TO THE KADDISH (5 sections): One should have concentration when answering to kaddish. {Gloss: And one does not interrupt between "Y'hei Sh'meih Rabbah" ("May the Great Name") and "M'varakh" ("be blessed") [Hagahot Asheri in the name of Or Zarua wrote regarding the first explanation: "One does not interrupt between "Sh'meih" and "Rabbah" and according to the explanation of the Ri: do not interrupt between "Rabbah" and "be blessed"].} One should answer loudly and strive to run to hear Kaddish. {Gloss: And there are those who stand when answering Kaddish and any davar she-bikdushah ("matter in which there is holiness" - a recitation which requires a minyan). And one who comes to synagogue and hears the congregation answering Kaddish answers along with them even though he/she did not hear the prayer-leader saying "Yitgadal..." [Hagahot Chadashim on the Mordechai of Brakhot]. And the prayer-leader also needs to say "Y'hei Sh'meih Rabbah...". And when he begins "Yitgadal...", there are those who say "And now, let power [of YHVH] be magnified..." (Numbers 14:17) and "Remember Your mercy..." (Psalms 25:6).}

(3) Those who respond up until "l'almai almaya" only [and stop] - they err, for it is forbidden to interrupt between "almaya" and "yitbarakh".

(4) When the chazzan says "yitgadal", one bows, and similarly at "y'hei Sh'meih Rabbah", and similarly at "yitbarakh", and similarly at "b'rikh hu", and similarly at "amen".