- Kaddish is a mysterious prayer that became one of the most important in the Jewish Liturgy.
- It is an amalgamation of several different verses and phrases and ideas, which we will explore.
- It is found first in a siddur of R' Amram Ge'on of the 10th Century, but this does not mean that it wasn't around before then, as we can see from the sources. Mourners only from the 13th Century.
- The idea of Kaddish is to talk about the greatness of God, in the sense of how the prophets discuss it, when his name will be known throughout the world, and the world will acknowledge his presence. Somewhat Messianic and Utopian.
- The one saying it is wishing the listeners בחייכון (in your days), meaning that they are wishing on the listeners to merit this great event in their lifetime.
- Mouners say this special prayer for several reasons: 1) the Story of R' Akiva below, 2) to thank God for the bad as you do the good. also below.
(ד) וַהֲוָה כֵּיוַן דְּמָטָא זִימְנֵיהּ דְּיַעֲקב אָבוּנָן לְמִתְכַּנְשָׁא מִגּוֹ עַלְמָא הֲוָה מִסְתְּפֵי דִלְמָא אִית בִּבְנוֹי פְּסוּלָא קָרָא יַתְהוֹן וְשַׁיְילִינוּן דִּלְמָא אִית בְּלִבְּכוֹן עַקְמָנוּתָא אָתִיבוּ כֻּלְהוֹן כַּחֲדָא וַאֲמָרוּ לֵיהּ שְׁמַע יִשְרָאֵל אָבוּנָן יְיָ אֱלָהָנָא יְיָ חָד עָנֵי יַעֲקב וַאֲמַר בְּרִיךְ שׁוּם יְקָרֵיהּ לְעָלְמֵי עַלְמִין
(4) ...And it was, when the time of our Patriarch, Jacob's, passing from this world came to be, he was worried maybe one of his children was spiritually tainted, so he called for them and asked if there was possibly some sort of spiritual doubt in their hearts. They all replied in unison: Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our God, Hashem is one. Jacob replied: Praised be the splendor of God's kingdom for all eternity.
אמר רבי יוסי פעם אחת הייתי מהלך בדרך ונכנסתי לחורבה אחת מחורבות ירושלים להתפלל בא אליהו זכור לטוב ושמר לי על הפתח (והמתין לי) עד שסיימתי תפלתי לאחר שסיימתי תפלתי אמר לי שלום עליך רבי ואמרתי לו שלום עליך רבי ומורי ואמר לי בני מפני מה נכנסת לחורבה זו אמרתי לו להתפלל ואמר לי היה לך להתפלל בדרך ואמרתי לו מתיירא הייתי שמא יפסיקו בי עוברי דרכים ואמר לי היה לך להתפלל תפלה קצרה באותה שעה למדתי ממנו שלשה דברים למדתי שאין נכנסין לחורבה ולמדתי שמתפללין בדרך ולמדתי שהמתפלל בדרך מתפלל תפלה קצרה ואמר לי בני מה קול שמעת בחורבה זו ואמרתי לו שמעתי בת קול שמנהמת כיונה ואומרת אוי לבנים שבעונותיהם החרבתי את ביתי ושרפתי את היכלי והגליתים לבין האומות ואמר לי חייך וחיי ראשך לא שעה זו בלבד אומרת כך אלא בכל יום ויום שלש פעמים אומרת כך ולא זו בלבד אלא בשעה שישראל נכנסין לבתי כנסיות ולבתי מדרשות ועונין יהא שמיה הגדול מבורך הקדוש ברוך הוא מנענע ראשו ואומר אשרי המלך שמקלסין אותו בביתו כך מה לו לאב שהגלה את בניו ואוי להם לבנים שגלו מעל שולחן אביהם:
R. Jose said : Once I was journeying by the way, and I entered one of the ruins of Jerusalem to pray. Elijah — may he be remembered for good ! — came, waited at the entrance for me, and stayed until I had concluded my prayer. After I had finished my prayer he said to me, " Peace be to thee, my master." I responded, "Peace be to thee, my master and teacher." Then he said to me, "My son, why didst thou enter this ruin ?" I answered, "To pray." He said to me, "Thou shouldest have prayed by the roadside." I said, "I feared lest passers-by interrupt me." Then said he to me, " Thou shouldest have offered an abbreviated prayer." On that occasion I learnt three things from him : first, one should not enter ruins ; second, it is permissible to pray by the roadside ; third, one who prays by the roadside should offer an abbreviated prayer. Then he said to me, "My son, what sound didst thou hear in that ruin ?" I answered, "I heard a Bat Kol moaning like a dove, crying, 'Alas for My children for whose iniquities I destroyed My house, burnt My Temple, and exiled them among the nations ! '" He said to me, "By thy life and the life of thy head, not only at this hour does it so cry, but thrice daily it exclaims thus. Moreover, whenever the Children of Israel enter their Synagogues and Houses of Study and respond 'Let His great Name be blessed,' the Holy One, blessed be He, shakes His head and exclaims, 'Happy the King Who is so praised in His house ! Alas for the Father Who has banished His children ! And alas for the children who have been banished from their Father's table !
[Who dreams] that he makes the response "May His great name be blessed" is assured that he is a son of the world to come. [Who dreams] that he recites the Shema' is meet that the Shekinah should rest upon him, but his generation is not worthy of it.
אריב"ל כל העונה אמן יהא שמיה רבא מברך בכל כחו קורעין לו גזר דינו שנאמר (שופטים ה, ב) בפרוע פרעות בישראל בהתנדב עם ברכו ה' מ"ט בפרוע פרעות משום דברכו ה'. אמר ריש לקיש כל העונה אמן בכל כחו פותחין לו שערי ג"ע שנאמר (ישעיהו כו, ב) פתחו שערים ויבא גוי צדיק שומר אמונים אל תיקרי שומר אמונים אלא שאומרים אמן מאי אמן א"ר חנינא אל מלך נאמן.
Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said: One who answers Yhei Shmei Mevarach with all his strength, his negative decree from on high is discarded.
Reish Lakish said: He who answers Amen with all of his strength, the gates of the Garden of Gan Eden are opened before him.
What is Amen: El Melech Ne'eman (A trustworthy king.)
מאי חייב לברך על הרעה כשם שמברך על הטובה אילימא כשם שמברך על הטובה הטוב והמטיב כך מברך על הרעה הטוב והמטיב והתנן על בשורות טובות אומר הטוב והמטיב על בשורות רעות אומר ברוך דיין האמת אמר רבא לא נצרכה אלא לקבולינהו בשמחה אמר ר' אחא משום ר' לוי מאי קרא (תהלים קא, א) חסד ומשפט אשירה לך ה' אזמרה אם חסד אשירה ואם משפט אשירה רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר מהכא (תהלים נו, יא) בה' אהלל דבר באלהים אהלל דבר בה' אהלל דבר זו מדה טובה באלהים אהלל דבר זו מדת פורענות רבי תנחום אמר מהכא (תהלים קטז, יג) כוס ישועות אשא ובשם ה' אקרא צרה ויגון אמצא ובשם ה' אקרא ורבנן אמרי מהכא (איוב א, כא) ה' נתן וה' לקח יהי שם ה' מבורך אמר רב הונא אמר רב משום רבי מאיר וכן תנא משמיה דר' עקיבא לעולם יהא אדם רגיל לומר כל דעביד רחמנא לטב עביד כי הא דרבי עקיבא דהוה קאזיל באורחא מטא לההיא מתא בעא אושפיזא לא יהבי ליה אמר כל דעביד רחמנא לטב אזל ובת בדברא והוה בהדיה תרנגולא וחמרא ושרגא אתא זיקא כבייה לשרגא אתא שונרא אכליה לתרנגולא אתא אריה אכליה לחמרא אמר כל דעביד רחמנא לטב ביה בליליא אתא גייסא שבייה למתא אמר להו לאו אמרי לכו כל מה שעושה הקדוש ברוך הוא
What means : A man is in duty bound to utter a benediction for the bad even as he utters one for the good? Are we to suppose that as for the good he says the benediction "...Who art good and dispensest good," he is to make the same benediction for the bad? For lo, our Mishnah teaches : For good tidings he says "Who art good and dispensest good" and For bad tidings he says "Blessed be the true Judge"! Raba said : It is only necessary that he should receive [the bad] with gladness. R. Aha said in the name of R. Levi: What is the Scriptural authority? "I will sing of mercy and justice ; unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing praises" (Ps. ci. 1) — if it be mercy, I will sing ; and if it be justice, I will sing. R. Samuel b. Nahmani said : It may be derived from the following: "In the Lord, I will praise His word ; in God, I will praise His word" (ibid. Ivi. 11) — "In the Lord, I will praise His word" refers to His attribute of goodness; "In God, I will praise His word" refers to His attribute of retribution. R. Tanhum said : It may be derived from the following : "I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord" (ibid. cxvi. 13) [and] "I found trouble and sorrow, but I called upon the name of the Lord" (ibid. vv. 3f). The Rabbis say : It may be derived from the following : "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job i. 21). Rab Huna stated that Rab said in the name of R. Meir, (and it has been similarly taught in the name of R. 'Akiba) : A man should always accustom himself to say, "Whatever the All-merciful does, He does for the best." As when R.'Akiba was journeying by the way, he came to a certain town and asked for hospitality, but it was refused him ; so he exclaimed, "Whatever the All - merciful does is for the best." He went and spent the night in the field, having with him a cock, an ass and a lamp. A gust of wind came and extinguished the lamp, a cat came and ate the cock, and a lion came and devoured the ass ; but he exclaimed, "Whatever the All-merciful does is for the best." That same night a band of robbers came and captured the town. He thereupon said to them, "Did I not tell you that whatever the Holy One, blessed be He, does is for the good.
Rabbi Akiva once saw (what he thought was) a man struggling with a heavy burden on his shoulders and bemoaning his lot in (what Rabbi Akiva thought was) life. Concerned that this might be an overworked slave deserving to be freed, 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.