{"id":13398,"date":"1999-09-07T15:19:21","date_gmt":"1999-09-07T15:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/?p=13398"},"modified":"2020-07-27T08:23:56","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T08:23:56","slug":"kaddish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/books\/reviews\/kaddish\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaddish"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leon Wieseltier<\/em><\/p>\n

Alfred A. Knopf<\/em><\/p>\n

New York, 1998<\/em><\/p>\n

588 pages<\/em><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Rabbi Avraham J. Shmidman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without question, no prayer in the whole of Jewish liturgy is as famous, and paradoxically,<\/strong> as unknown as the kaddish<\/em>.\u00a0 Often referred to as the mourner\u2019s prayer, this sanctification of God\u2019s Name does not speak of death, mourning or redemption of souls, as many erroneously believe.\u00a0 These myths abound in spite of translated prayer books and numerous works analyzing the nature and chronicling the history of the kaddish<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Leon Wieseltier, the Brooklyn-born literary editor of the New Republic<\/em>, provides a mini-tome to add to this burgeoning collection.\u00a0 Simply titled, Kaddish<\/em> is at once a quasi-scholarly presentation of the history of the kaddish<\/em>, a straightforward journal of a mourner confronting the anguish and finality of death, and an emotional autobiographical account detailing one man\u2019s turn to and sustained struggle with observant Judaism as a result of his father\u2019s death.\u00a0 Peppered with fleeting philosophical ponderings and creative literary diversions, the entanglement of information and insights stitched together to form Kaddish<\/em> makes for an inspiring albeit choppy read.<\/p>\n

The themes addressed in Wieseltier\u2019s work are not new, but the emotional force behind them is reason enough to try to wade through it.\u00a0 Motivated by his paucity of knowledge about the kaddish<\/em> that he is obligated to recite in the wake of his father\u2019s death, Wieseltier sets out in search of the history of kaddish<\/em> (p.vii) and keeps a journal of these sources and the \u201cspeculations\u201d (viii) they provoked.<\/p>\n

Following a powerful description of the burial of his father and the kaddish<\/em> he recites for him — \u201cI watched the words disperse across the surface of the wood — like the clods of dirt that were falling upon it\u201d (p. 4) — Wieseltier begins his journey with a look at Torat Ha\u2019Adam<\/em>, The Law of Man (a vast compilation of laws and customs dealing primarily with mourning, and concluding with a famous eschatological essay entitled \u201cThe Gate of Recompense\u201d) by Nachmanides.\u00a0 Wieseltier\u2019s brazen irreverence of Ramban for stressing the importance of justifying God\u2019s judgment and mourning over sin rather than death is, lamentably, not unexpected.\u00a0 Many are the mourners who, in anger and anguish, lash out against the bearers of tradition. \u00a0To Wieseltier\u2019s credit, despite his claims that he can\u2019t \u201cfollow the rabbi\u201d (p. 11) and doesn\u2019t \u201cintend to be deceived\u201d (ibid), he continues to grapple sincerely with the attitudes to mourning in traditional Jewish literature.<\/p>\n

The almost incessant flip-flopping between research into the history of kaddish<\/em> and internal wrestling with the approaches and obligations of Judaism that ensues is often maddeningly disjointed, and at times confusing.\u00a0 This, though, is precisely the book\u2019s allure.\u00a0 This dizzying see-saw ride accurately mirrors the odyssey of a mourner futilely attempting to balance emotional ragings with intellectual convictions.\u00a0 The only constant is the thrice-daily saying of the kaddish<\/em>.\u00a0 Returning to shul<\/em> to say kaddish<\/em> at first proves to be uncomfortable for a man who wishes to \u201cdrive his chariot wildly\u201d (p. 16).\u00a0 He quickly realizes, though, that a life without a religious structure is still structured, just in different ways.\u00a0 Even prayer which was once nothing more than \u201cfrantic exertions of subjectivity\u201d (p. 19) is now a \u201cthrob of individuation\u201d (ibid).\u00a0 Throughout his year of mourning Wieseltier continues confronting many of the practices and attitudes of observant Judaism.\u00a0 This in no way means he has reconciled all of his faiths and doubts; rather that he probes them as best as he can, a process difficult to accomplish, yet easily admired.<\/p>\n

Wieseltier\u2019s extensive research, which is the bulk of the book, delving into many sources of kaddish<\/em>, leads ultimately to an analysis of many of the laws and practices of mourning.\u00a0 An impressive and eclectic array of sources and scholars spanning two millennia are presented.\u00a0 The author\u2019s prefactory remarks forewarn us that a systematic study was not undertaken (p. viii).\u00a0 We are also cautioned that Kaddish<\/em> was hastily put together and no doubt has mistakes (p. ix).\u00a0 Having absolved himself of responsibility for the majority of his book we cannot rightfully take Wieseltier to task for an undefined selective process that leaves us scattered tidbits of information.\u00a0 Nor can we fairly express our frustration that the exposition of sources is less than cogent.\u00a0 The result, however is a cut–<\/strong>and–<\/strong>paste job which occasionally fascinates with obscure factoids and titillates with insightful commentary, but ultimately leaves the reader with a morass of muddled material from which he is unable to assemble a clear picture.<\/p>\n

Wieseltier\u2019s literary talent is showcased in his translation of sources; they are his, other than those from the King James Bible.\u00a0 The ancient sources cited somehow seem injected with more relevance and melody than in their original forms.\u00a0 Regrettably, they are not always accurate. \u00a0Even the assurance of relying on the King James version for scriptural translations is not kept.\u00a0 The verse in Isaiah (25:8) hoping that God\u00a0 \u201cswallow up death forever\u201d is mistranslated throughout the book to have God swallow up death in \u201cVictory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortcomings aside, this is a thought-provoking tour de force<\/em> worth reading not so much as a source book on kaddish<\/em> or a philosophical essay on the meaning of life, but rather as a human interest story; a story of a doubting and diligent son whose mighty pen finds not only a cathartic voice in his literary output but a consoling one as well.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Avraham J. Shmidman is the rabbi of Knesseth Israel Congregation in Birmingham, Alabama.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Without question, no prayer in the whole of Jewish liturgy is as famous, and paradoxically, as unknown as the kaddish. Often referred to as the mourner\u2019s prayer, this sanctification of God\u2019s Name does not speak of death, mourning or redemption of souls, as many erroneously believe. These myths abound in spite of translated prayer books and numerous works analyzing the nature and chronicling the history of the kaddish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","issues-fall-19985759"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKaddish - Jewish Action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Without question, no prayer in the whole of Jewish liturgy is as famous, and paradoxically, as unknown as the kaddish. Often referred to as the mourner\u2019s prayer, this sanctification of God\u2019s Name does not speak of death, mourning or redemption of souls, as many erroneously believe. 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