Question: In the many shuls that I’ve attended I observe that there are people who recite the Kaddish silently. Is this correct? I’ve also seen Kaddish recited by some at a cemetery without a minyan is there any reason to sanction this?
Charles Rosen
Via email
Synopsis: We discussed the possibility that the Kaddish of those in the congregation who are reciting the Kaddish along with the Chazzan should indeed correctly be recited in an undertone as more than one voice at the same time is not heard. We duly noted the exception of the Megillah reading where two voices may be heard. However, we noted that Modim in the reader’s repetition – Chazarat HaShatz is always to be recited in an undertone. We also noted that the Kaddish is a means of Sanctifying Hashem’s Holy Name – Kiddush Hashem, which was instituted to rectify the destruction of the Holy Temple. We also cited the Gemara (Shabbos 119b) that it is to be recited ‘with all ones might’ and the two views as to what that means; Rashi – all one’s concentration – kavana; Tosafot – in a loud voice. We then cited the encounter of R’Yosi and Eliyahu (Berachot 3a) where he learned three things from Eliyahu; one must not enter a ruin; lone may recite a prayer at the side of a road; and if so he recites a Tefillah ketzara – a short tefillah. Eliyahu revealed to him Hashem’s reaction to our recitation of the Kaddish, how pleased He is and how it invokes regret on His part for having exiled us. Yet it was our sins that brought that upon us. We then reflected on the anomaly of this prayer being recited in Aramaic as opposed to Hebrew – the Holy Tongue. We explained that at the time of its composition, the masses were not fluent in Hebrew as they all spoke Aramaic, and the importance of this one prayer was such that one reciting should be able to truly express and comprehend the message of the Kaddish. To facilitate this, we thus translated the entire text of the Kaddish Shalem into English. We also noted that the Sages left us with ten Kaddish recitals daily. We also noted two unique aspects of Kaddish: that the prayer that seems to most sanctify Hashem’s Name, is not recited in the Holy Tongue, Hebrew, but in Aramaic, the language most spoken in the time of the Sages; and that not a single one of Hashem’s Holy Names is contained therein. We also noted the different Kaddish recitals: Kaddish Derabbanan; Kaddish Shalem; Chatzi Kaddish; Kaddish Titkabel. We also noted various differing practices regarding bowing during the Kaddish. We also discussed the various praises contained in the Kaddish and these (though the Kaddish is in Aramaic are specifically in Hebrew). These ten praises are juxtaposed with the ten words G-d used when He created the world and to the Aseret HaDibrot – the Ten Commandments. We also noted that we stand for every davar she’bik’dusha – which we learn from Eglon, king of Moab, who stood when Ehud ben Gerah told him he had a message from G-d. He thus merited a special reward that the Davidic dynasty comes [in part] from him. We noted that responding to Amen Yehei Shmei Rabba serves the living on their day of judgment and relieves the punishment due the departed. Now, if Kaddish reflects the punishment due to the departed, how dare we recite Kaddish for one who is truly righteous? We noted the ten Hebrew words of praise that stand out in the otherwise Aramaic Kaddish are juxtaposed to the Aseret HaDibrot – the Decalogue. We then cited from Kohelet (7:20): “There is no man who is righteous on this earth who does good and sins not.” Targum and Rashbam both explain that the message is for even the most righteous to constantly guard himself against sin. We cited Rava (Shabbos 31a) that a person appearing before the heavenly tribunal is asked four things and the last is, “Have you been anxious for the deliverance?” We then cited Zohar: R. Yehudah asked R. Shimon from the verse (Isaiah 52:8) says, “The voice of your lookouts (kol tzofayich), they raise their voice, they sing glad song in unison, with their own eyes they will see that Hashem returns to Zion.” Who are these lookouts (tzofayich)? R. Shimon answered that they are those who anxiously hope for the rebuilding of the Temple. We noted that we have enshrined in our [weekday] Shemoneh Esreh two blessings, V’liyrushalaim ircha and Et Tzemach David, that both reflect our anxiety and our hope for the salvation and the restoration of the Temple. We recite these two blessings no less than thrice daily.
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Answer: We find a jarring statement in the Jerusalem Talmud (Yoma 1:1): Every generation in which [the Temple], is not built it is considered as if he [they] destroyed it in their days.
Now, we miss the glory and splendor that was the Holy Temple (both the first and the second) but the nation of Israel continues in spite of the loss. How did this come to be? The Talmud (Gittin 56b) relates that at the time of Jerusalem’s seizure and the destruction that was to follow, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, the leader of the Jewish people at that time, escaped the besieged city of Jerusalem through a ruse. Meeting the Roman governor, Vespasian, he addressed him as king. Angered, Vespasian exclaimed, “How dare you call me king?” Just then a messenger came from Rome and proclaimed to Vespasian that the Caesar is dead and that he was selected to replace him. He was now more amenable to Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and said that he could make any request and he would grant it.
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai could have requested that he restore the Temple, but instead he asked: “Give me Yavneh and its wise men.” Yavneh was the seat of Torah study, and it would be these wise men, the scholars, who would ensure the continuation of Torah in the Jewish nation. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai reasoned that though the loss of Jerusalem was too great a loss for the people to bear, the loss of Torah would be far greater. He thus deliberated very carefully, although almost instantaneously, and responded, “Give me Yavneh and its wise men.”
We thus see that Klal Yisrael can continue and flourish even without the Temple for which we long and pray for its restoration three times every day. And in our generation, after the Holocaust, a repeat of the many destructions that have befallen our people over the generations, we see a resurgence of Yiddishkeit – both Torah observance and Torah study – both in the Diaspora and in our beloved Eretz Yisrael, the State of Israel.
Yiddishkeit indeed flourishes today, but so can it be said of the many previous generations – the times of the great Tannaim, Amoraim, Geonim, Rishonim and Acharonim, with the enormous wealth of Talmud, Torah commentary, responsa, etc. Today we are the beneficiaries of all that scholarship that provides us a fountain from which to quench our thirst for the Holy Word.
Yet this is the very problem. While Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was faced with an almost split-second decision to save the remnants of Klal Yisrael, physically and spiritually, we have unfortunately developed a certain complacency regarding our exile. We live and study Hashem’s Torah, but while we remain in exile, so does He. Wise King Solomon first built Hashem’s house before he built his own.
I’ve always been intrigued by the text of the introductory paragraph to the viduy – confessional that is recited at the Tachanun prayer:
“Our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers, please, may our prayer come before You, and do not ignore our supplication for we are not so brazen and obstinate as to say before You. Hashem, G-d and the G-d of our forefathers, that we are righteous and have not sinned – rather, we and our forefathers have sinned.”
What stands out in this text is not only that we admit our sin but that we attribute the same to those who preceded us. I’ve always felt that there was some chutzpa, gall and disrespect, to our “fathers, grandfathers,” in both the immediate and generations past, many of whom perished al kiddush Hashem – sanctifying Hashem’s Holy Name. How dare we include them in our viduy? It is clear that for some of the righteous, search we may, we would be hard-pressed to find any sin attributed to them. Nevertheless, there is one sin they share with us and that is that they did not merit to see the Geula, the Redemption, in their day. Thus, the uniform requirement to recite Kaddish for all departed, even those most righteous. The prayer so holy that it may only be recited with a quorum of ten males.
Another query that I received regards women reciting the Kaddish. Indeed, if a woman wishes to recite the Kaddish she may do so, but only from the women’s section in the synagogue with a minyan and with another from the men’s section reciting as well. What you might have seen at the cemetery was a non-Orthodox service. Unfortunately, they have made so many changes that are not in conformity with halacha, that we see such practice. We must teach and influence those that we can in the proper practice of all aspects of tefillah and Yiddishkeit and, hopefully, we will be the generation that will merit the Redemption with the arrival of Melech HaMoshiach speedily in our days.
