"Kaddish" refers to the Jewish prayer that is chanted at every synagogue service for the dead but never mentions "death."

The revised version is scored for: The text begins with a narrator addressing "My Father" (i.e., God).

After the initial approach to the Father in prayer, a chorus sings his kaddish in Aramaic.

The speaker then questions why He would allow such disorder in mankind's lives, suggesting that surely He must have the power to change it.

The prayer escalates into a confrontation with the Father (who never replies in the symphony), and in a "certain respectful fury", accusing him of violating his promise with mankind.

Why have You taken away Your rainbow, That pretty bow You tied round Your finger To remind You never to forget Your promise?

The speaker begins by painting what God has made: This is Your Kingdom of Heaven, Father, Just as You planned it.

A burning bush and gushing rock refer to some of the miracles described in the Book of Exodus.

The music builds to an amazing climax, crowned with the entrance of a boy's choir singing the phrase "Magnified and sanctified be His great name, Amen" in Hebrew.

The symphony was first performed in Tel Aviv, Israel, on December 10, 1963, with Bernstein conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jennie Tourel (mezzo-soprano), Hanna Rovina (narrator) and the choruses under Abraham Kaplan.

The American premiere of the work took place soon afterwards on the afternoon of January 31, 1964, in Boston with Charles Münch conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New England Conservatory Chorus and the Columbus Boychoir, again with Tourel (mezzo), but now with Bernstein's wife, Felicia Montealegre as narrator.

[2] The American reactions to the work were decidedly mixed, ranging from highly favorable to vitriolic.

During a performance of the Kaddish Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on March 17, 1981, reportedly Bernstein wept profusely.

Later he reported privately that he had seen, floating above the stage in front of the great organ pipes, the spirits of John and Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Felicia, who had died in 1978.

[citation needed] The Kaddish Symphony was often narrated by Samuel Pisar until his death in 2015; he wrote a new text for it describing his experience with the Holocaust, when all of his family suffered, and most perished.

[3] Pisar wrote this version of the text for the Kaddish Symphony "in memory of Leonard Bernstein, a beloved friend."

The first performance in France took place in 1994, and was carried out by the Formation Symphonique of the Chœur et Orchestre des Grandes Écoles with Mari Kobayashi as soloist and Michael Lonsdale as the narrator.

In November 2017, Kaddish was performed in three concerts by the New York Philharmonic to commemorate Bernstein's 100th birthday at David Geffen Hall, with Tamara Wilson (soprano), Jeremy Irons (narrator), and Leonard Slatkin conducting.

The Bernstein estate allowed this version to be used only with Samuel Pisar as recitator before his 2015 death.