Hello Everyone,
The prayer known as “Kaddish” is probably the best known of all the prayers in the Siddur. Its fame is in my opinion linked to its being connected with our mourning practices. Specifically the Kaddish is viewed as a prayer which somehow assists the deceased as they are judged by Hashem in heaven. This idea that Kaddish is the last hope for saving the dead from a horrible fate was so strong that parents in Eastern Europe would often refer to their (male) child as “my Kaddish.”
The concept that Kaddish is a prayer with magical powers is something that the great Poskim saw as a perversion not only of the prayer itself (which make no references either to the dead or to Heaven and Hell) but of Hashem’s judgement.
In this short series of classes we will study the Kaddish, what it means and how it acquired its renown.
I look forward to studying the Kaddish with you.