Tefillah 087

53:
On several occasions [see for example Tefillah 010] we have noted that originally Kaddish was recited at the end of a lecture by the head of the Yeshiva in one of the seats of learning in Babylon (modern Iraq). Later, it was adopted into the synagogue ritual as a concluding laudation at the end of the service. It is not clear how Kaddish later became associated with mourners.

54:
In order to elucidate what little we know about this we must first review a verse from the bible:

The last two words of that verse in Hebrew are shomer emmunim, and a midrashic interpretation changed the words to she'omer Amenim, which means 'which responds with Amens'. Having explained this point we can now continue with our dicussion concerning the connection between Kaddish and mourners.

55:
During the Geonic period (aprroximately 500 – 1000 CE) many mystic works were compiled. We have already discussed, for example, the Yordé Merkavah and the Hekhalot literature. (See Tefillah 039.) Another such mystic work – psuedepigraphic as most of them were – is called Otiyyot de-Rabbi Akiva, "The Letters of Rabbi Akiva". In that work there is a passage which reads as follows:

Another legend, connected with the above, has been passed down by (among others) Rabbi Yitzĥak ben-Moshe of Vienna (1200-1270) in his famous work Or Zaru'a:

This legend has also reached us in a version in which the 'hero' is Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai (see Avot 131) and not Rabbi Akiva.

56:
Now the notion that a son's piety may exert a redeeming influence in behalf of a departed father is perhaps based on Talmudic and Midrashic comments. However, it receives a formal formulation in a work by Rabbi Yehudah he-Ĥasid called Sefer ha-Ĥasidim. Both Rabbi Yehudah he-Ĥasid and Rabbi Yitzĥak of Vienna belonged to a quasi-mystical group called Ĥasidei Ashkenaz and this group seems to be the source for the connection between Kaddish and mourning – some eight hundred years ago. It was established that in order to redeem the soul of the parents from the torture of Gehinom (which is supposed to last twelve months) Kaddish was to be recited by the son during the whole year. Later, this period was reduced to eleven months, as it was considered unworthy of the son to entertain the idea that his parents were wicked.

57:
Originally only one person was permitted to recite Kaddish at a time, so a strict order of priorities was established:

As congregations grew more and more Kaddishim had to be added to the service in order to accomodate all the mourners of varying status and various types. Obviously, a stage was reached when the whole system became unwieldy. Sefaradi minhag allows the mourners to recite Kaddish jointly and by the 18th century we find Rabbi Ya'akov Emden (Ya'avetz) in his famous Siddur approving the Sefaradi custom that all mourners should recite it together.

58:
Logic would suggest that now that the Sefaradi custom of all mourners reciting Kaddish in unison has been accepted into Ashkenazi custom too the number of times that mourners recite Kaddish should be reduced as well. Unfortunately, in most cases this has not happened. However, in Siddur Va'ani Tefillati only one mourner's Kaddish is allocated per service, and the various elements that comprise the end of the service are there re-arranged so that Aleynu comes last and can be followed by the mourner's Kaddish. It is a desideratum devoutly to be wished that as many congregations as possible follow this custom and gradually restore the recital of Kaddish to its pristine glory.

59:
We mentioned that the Sefaradi custom is that all mourners recite Kaddish in unison. "Unison" here should be the operative word. When several mourners receite Kaddish individually, each at his or her own pace, the whole effect and purpose of mourner's Kaddish is lost. There are several sources which teach that the main purpose of receiting Kaddish is to get the entire congregation to respond "Amen, Yehé shemé rabba mevarakh le'alam ule'almé almaya" (see, for example Sifré on Deuteronomy 306). So great was the value attached to this response that the Gemara [Sotah 49a] declares:

Rabbi Yehoshu'a ben Levi and Rabbi Yoĥanan proclaim [Shabbat 119b] that joining loudly and in unison in the congregational response Yehé shemé rabba has the power of influencing the heavenly decree in one's favour, or of obtaining for one forgiveness. Thus, for Kaddish to have its proper effect it should be recited clearly and in unison by all the mourners and the rest of the congregation should make the response loudly and also in unison.

60:
This concludes our discussion of the mourner's Kaddish and it also brings to a conclusion our study of the Shabbat morning service in general. God willing, I shall next week publish the mechanism for voting on the next topic to be studied in the Halakhah Study Group. This has been a long haul – more than two years – and I hope that you, the participants, have enjoyed the study as much as I have in presenting it.

When we discussed Aleynu (Tefillah 085) I wrote: However, there is one theme in this second paragraph of Aleynu that seems to be out of kilter with earlier Jewish teaching. That theme is the belief and hope that all non-Jews will give up their beliefs and observances in favour of Judaism.

Derek Fields writes:

I have never understood the call that "All the inhabitants of the world will recognize and admit that it is to You…" as a call for everyone to be Jewish. I think that it can be simply understood as a call that everyone will recognize that there is only one God to whom all praise is due and that all people have a responsibility to do God's will. What God's will is for non-Jews is at a minimum the Noachide laws, but it may be much more than that – which may be why other religions have their own revelations. So long as these revelations lead to a worship of the one God, there is no reason for Jews to say that they are in conflict with our revelation.