The Kaddish (Hebrew: קַדִּישׁ, 'holy' or 'sanctification'), also transliterated as Qaddish, is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services.
The term Kaddish is often used to refer specifically to the Mourner's Kaddish, which is chanted as part of the mourning rituals in Judaism in all prayer services, as well as at funerals (other than at the gravesite) and memorials; for 11 Hebrew months after the death of a parent; and in some communities for 30 days after the death of a spouse, sibling, or child.
In the burial kaddish, and that after a siyum according to Ashkenazim,i, lines 2-3 are replaced by: In some recent non-Orthodox prayerbooks, for example, the American Reform Machzor,[3] line 36 is replaced with: This effort to extend the reach of Oseh Shalom to non-Jews is said to have been started by the British Liberal Jewish movement in 1967, with the introduction of v'al kol bnei Adam ("and upon all humans");[4] these words continue to be used by some in the UK.
[15] It is also parallel to the Hebrew "בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד" ('Blessed be the name is His glorious kingdom forever and ever]], which is commonly recited after the first verse of the Shema.
[16] The Mourner's, Rabbis' and Complete Kaddish end with a supplication for peace ("Oseh Shalom..."), which is in Hebrew, and is somewhat similar to the Tanakh Job 25:2.
This generally includes the first word of the prayer, at each Amen, at Yitbarakh, at Brikh hu, and for the last verse Oseh shalom.
Masekhet Soferim, an eighth-century compilation of Jewish laws regarding the preparation of holy books and public reading, states in 10:7 that Kaddish may be recited only in the presence of a minyan - a quorum of ten.
[28] David de Silva Pool describes the origin of Kaddish as "a closing doxology to an Aggadic discourse.
[29] Professor Yoel Elitzur [he], however, argues that the Kaddish was originally written in Hebrew, and later translated to Aramaic to be better understood by the masses.
"The first mention of mourners reciting Kaddish at the end of the service is in a thirteenth century halakhic writing called the Or Zarua.
[33] It is traditionally recited several times, most prominently at or towards the end of the service, after the Aleinu, closing Psalms or, on the Sabbath, following the Anim Zemirot hymn.
[citation needed] There is evidence of some women saying the Mourner's Kaddish for their parents at the grave, during shiva, and in daily prayers since the 17th century.
[citation needed] Rabbi Yair Bacharach concluded that technically a woman can recite the Mourner's Kaddish, but since this is not the common practice, it should be discouraged.
Nevertheless, Rabbi Aharon Soloveichik ruled that in our time, we should permit women to say Kaddish,[38] and this is a common (but not universal) practice in Modern Orthodox circles.
In 2013, the Israeli Orthodox rabbinical organization Beit Hillel issued a halachic ruling that women may say the Kaddish in memory of their deceased parents (in presence of a male minyan).