Kaddish; the Mourners' Prayer

Nov 19, 1997 - 08:02 -

I have a question:
I would like to receive the text of the Kaddish Prayer. Could you send that to me? Thanks. Joop Loeber, Achterweg 17, 2103 SW Heemstede Yhe Netherlands.

About me: see above text with my nam and address. I am not jewish, but I would like to recite the Kaddish prayer at the occasion of the re-burial of my father who died tn years ago.
My e-mail address: loeber@pi.net
How I found this site: through Altavista

Dear Joop,

The Mourner's Kaddish (one of five forms of Kaddish) can be found in any Siddur (the standard Jewish prayerbook). You can borrow a siddur from your nearest synagogue. Also, any Jewish funeral home will give away little booklets with prayers. These always include the mourner's kaddish. Just stop by the lobby or office to pick one up. Both institutions can be found in the "Yellow Pages" phone directory.

If you are a Christian, you may also wish to investigate the text of the Catholic "Magnificat", which is based on the Jewish "Kaddish".

Most Jewish prayerbooks will have the mourner's kaddish in three representations: Hebrew, local translation (English, Dutch, whatever), and transliteration (meaning that the sounds of the Hebrew are spelled using the local alphabet (e.g., English, cyrrillic, whatever). The transliteration of the kaddish is usually just inside the back cover.

There is a transliteration of the Kaddish on the internet at http://siddur.webjew.org

It is also traditional for Jewish mourners to recite Tehillim (Psalms), give alms, and light a memorial candle.

According to Jewish tradition, Jews say kaddish only if they are male and only in the presence of at least ten Jewish male adults (i.e., over age thirteen). Jews can say kaddish for non-Jews as well as for Jews.

--- Jordan