How Long Should a Child Recite the Mourner’s Kaddish for a Parent?

Responsa in a Moment: Volume 7, Issue No. 4, January 2013

In memory of my mother & teacher
Devorah Golinkin z”l
On her first yahrzeit
27 Tevet 5773

Question: It is common practice today for a child to recite kaddish in memory of a parent for 11 months, even though the normal period of mourning is 12 months. How long should a child recite kaddish for a parent and why?

Yoreh Deah 376:4 and Orah Hayyim 132:2; Responsum:

I) A Brief History of the Mourners’ Kaddish

The history of the kaddish in general and of the kaddish yatom(orphan’s kaddish) or mourners’ kaddish are shrouded in mystery and many rabbis and scholars have tried to unravel the history of this central prayer (see the Bibliography below, section I).

Therefore, we will limit ourselves to tracing the history of thekaddish yatom by quoting the most important primary sources:

1. The Geonim were the religious leaders of the Jewish people ca. 500-1000 CE. An anonymous Gaon (Teshuvot Hageonim, ed. Coronel, No. 94 = Otzar Hageonim to Mashkin, p. 49, parag. 139) says that kaddish is recited after a eulogy and the tzidduk hadinprayer at a funeral since they contain divrei torah (words of Torah), but he does not say that it is recited by the mourner.

2. Similarly, Massekhet Sofrim (19:12; ed. Higger, 19:9, p. 336), which is frequently attributed to the Geonic period, says that the hazzan — not the mourners — would recite kaddish for the mourners behind the synagogue door after Musaph. It is worth noting that in an earlier parallel text (Pirkei Derabbi Eliezer, Chapter 17, fol. 41b), the kaddish is not mentioned at all.

3. Siddur Rashi (ed. Buber-Freimann, Berlin, 1912, parag. 216, p. 101) and Mahzor Vitry (ed. Horvitz, Berlin, 1889-1897, p. 396), which were written in France ca. 1100, say that if Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, after Havdalah they recite V’yitein Lekha “and a minor recites kaddish and they go to their homes in peace”.Siddur Rashi adds the words: “Shlomo b”r Yitzhak [=Rashi]”. This source mentions a minor but not an orphan.

4. Mahzor Vitry contains quite a few additional passages relevant to our topic. It says that a na’ar [boy, young man] recited the kaddish yehe shlama without titkabel after a series of verses which came after Uva L’tziyon in the Shaharit service (p. 74). At the end of Arvit [the evening service], they recited pitum haketoret and other rabbinic texts and then “the na’ar should stand and recite kaddish without titkabel and this kaddish is only to educate the children and is not part of the [seven required kaddishes recited every day]” (p. 80). After the recitation of the Bameh Madlikin [the second chapter of Mishnah Shabbat] on Friday night followed by the Amar Rabbi Eleazar paragraph “a na’ar stands and recites kaddish without titkabel” (p. 146). After Musaph on Yom Tov[festivals], the congregation sits and recites Ein Keloheinu, pitum haketoret, and Amar Rabbi Eleazar. “And the na’ar stands and recites kaddish and skips titkabel, and they recite Aleinu…” (p. 177). None of these passages say that the na’ar is an orphan.

5. There is, however, one passage in Mahzor Vitry (pp. 112-113; cf. Ta-Shema, pp. 566-567) where there is a transition to the mourners’ kaddish. After relating the legend of Rabbi Akiva (see below), we are told: “Therefore it is customary on Motzaei Shabbat [Saturday night] for a person without a father or mother to pass before the Ark [serve as cantor] to recite Barekhu or kaddish“.

6. Pinkas Worms, a manuscript which Frumkin attributes to ca. 1190, contains a Mee Shebeirakh prayer for those who remain in the synagogue “until the end of the entire service and kaddish yatom“. If the dating is correct, this would be the first use of the term kaddish yatom (Seder Rav Amram Gaon Hashalem, ed. Frumkin, Volume 2, Jerusalem, 1912, fol. 39a). However, the style and topic of this Mee Shebeirakh prayer point to a much later date (cf. fol. 238a where the author admits that the date is incorrect).

7. Sefer Hassidim attributed to Rabbi Judah the Pious (Germany, d. 1217; parag. 722, ed. Margaliot, p. 443; cf. ed. Wistinetzki, parag. 314) reports that “one became sick and was near deathand asked from a Jew that he should teach his son [i.e. the sick man’s son] kaddish…”. This seems to indicate that the dying man wanted his son to recite kaddish yatom for him.

8. Rabbi Eleazar of Worms(Germany, ca. 1165-1235; Sefer Harokeach, Hilkhot Shabbat, parag. 53, p. 43) says at the end of Shabbat Musaph: “Ein Keloheinu, pitum haketoret, and the orphan stands and recites kaddish and they leave the synagogue”. In other words the na’ar of Mahzor Vitry ca. 1100 is now called an orphan ca. 1200.

9. Rabbi Yitzkah ben Moshe of Vienna (ca. 1180-1250; Or Zarua, Hilkhot Shabbat, parag. 50, part II, fol. 11c) transmits a similar custom: “It is our custom in [Bohemia] and also of those who live in the Rhineland, after the congregation recites Ein Keloheinu, the orphan stands and recites kaddish, but in France I saw that they are not particular as to who should recite kaddish, if it is an orphan or a young man who has parents, and our custom seems more logical because of the story of Rabbi Akiva” [which he then quotes at length; see below].

10. The Kol Bo written in Provence ca. 1300 (parag. 114, ed. Lvov, 1860, fol. 88b = ed. Avraham, Vol. 7, Jerusalem, 2002, cols. 184-185) and the similar work Orhot Hayyim by Rabbi Aaron Hakohen of Lunel (ed. Schlesinger, Berlin, 1899, p. 601) quote the legend about Rabbi Akiva (see below) and continue: “And from this spread the custom that the son of a dead man should recite thekaddish batra (the final kaddish) all twelve months and also to recite the haftarah, and some lead the service every Saturday night…”.

11. Even so, Rabbi Nathan b”r Yehudah (Spain, ca. 1300) in hisSefer Mahkim consistently calls the final kaddish the “kaddish shel kattan“, the kaddish of a minor (ed. Freimann, Cracow, 1909, pp. 19, 33, 43, 44, 45, 50) and not the kaddish yatom. In other words, he seems to have followed the French custom described above.

12. Rabbi Yitzhak bar Sheshet (Spainand Algeria, 1326-1408;Responsa Ribash, No. 115) was asked regarding the Spanish custom of an orphan reciting the kaddish derabban for the entire year of mourning: what is the source for the story about the Rabbi Akiva and the man carrying coals (see below)? He says that he does not really know the source and then quotes the Orhot Hayyim cited above.

13. Rabbi Yosef Abudraham in a question to Rabbi Yitzhak de Leon (Spain ca. 1440; Ta-Shema, pp. 567-568) relates that “a minor recites kaddish and barekhu for his father“, apparently in the ma’ariv service on Saturday night.

14. Finally, Rabbi Ya’akov Mollin (Mainz, d. 1427) explains that the kaddish at the end of the service is called kaddish yatom “for the minors who cannot lead the prayers in public, they can say this kaddish because it was enacted for the dead, and therefore minors may recite it, because it is not required like the other kaddishot of the service…” (quoted by Sefer Ha’agur,  ed. Hirshler, Laws of Arvit, parag. 334; cf. Responsa Maharil, ed. Satz, No. 64 and Responsa Maharil Hahdashot, ed. Satz, No. 28).

Thus it appears that originally in France(sources  3-4) and also in Spain(source 11) the final kaddish without titkabel was recited byany boy at the end of the service in order to educate the children. Beginning with one passage in Mahzor Vitry (source 5), and especially around the year 1200 in Germany, Provence and Spain (sources 7-10, 12-14), this became the kaddish yatom reserved for an orphan.

II) The Reasons for an Orphan to Recite the Kaddish and Perform Other Mitzvot

As I have explained elsewhere (Golinkin, pp. 251-252), various rabbis have given different reasons for an orphan to recite the kaddish. Some say that it is for the sake of kiddush hashem, to sanctify God’s name in public. Others say that it is for the sake ofkibbud av va’em, to honor one’s parents. Still others say that the kaddish does not stand alone, but rather symbolizes the child’s fulfillment of all the other mitzvot.

The most popular explanation is that the orphan recites the kaddish and performs other mitzvot during the year of mourning in order to bring nahat ruah or satisfaction to the soul of the deceased parent or in order to atone for the sins of the parent. The idea that the dead need atonement is not exclusive to the kaddish. Tzvi Karl has shown (pp. 88 ff.) that it is found in early sources such as II Macabbees 12:58; Sifrei Devarim, Piska 210;Pesikta Rabbati; and Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10:1. On the other hand, we learn in various sources that a son can bring merit to his father or save his father from punishment after he dies (seeSanhedrin 104a; Kiddushin 31b; Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, Chapter 18, p. 99; and Seder Eliyahu Zuta, Chapter 12, p. 194).

The most well-known source reflecting this latter belief is the wide-spread legend about Rabbi Akiva (or: Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai) who meets a dead man in a cemetery who is scurrying to-and-fro carrying coal or wood on his head. The dead man tells him that he is suffering punishment after death and that his son can save him from his punishment by praying, reciting the Shema, reading the torah and reciting barekhu et hashem hamevorakh in public. Rabbi Akiva then looks for the son and teaches him, and when the son prayed in public and recited the barekhu, at that moment, they released the father from punishment. In many versions of the story, Rabbi Akiva also teaches the son the kaddish and many think that this story is the origin of the mourner’s kaddish. However, recent comparison of 17 versions of this story indicate that the original list of mitzvot in the story did not include the kaddish; it was added later when children began to recite thekaddish yatom or mourners kaddish (see Ginzberg, A.N.Z. Roth, Lerner and Golinkin). Even so, this story is the reason cited by most halakhic authorities for reciting the kaddish yatom.

III) How Long Should a Child Recite Kaddish for a Parent?

Since a child observes all the laws of mourning for 12 full months, simple logic would dictate that a child should recite the kaddish for a parent for 12 full months. However, as we shall see below, eight different customs developed over the course of time.

The two earliest customs both arose in the late 13^th century:

A) Twelve Full Months

This was the opinion of many rabbis from the 14^th-20^th centuries:Kol Bo and Orhot Hayyim (Provence, 14^th century) cited above;Responsa Ribash (Spain, 14^th century) cited above regardingkaddish derabbanan; Rabbi Yitzhak Lampronti (Italy, 1679-1756) relates an Italian custom that the mourner serves as cantor for Uva L’tziyon and Kaddish Titkabel; Rabbi Hayyim Hizkiyah Medini (Jerusalem and Crimea, 1832-1904) quotes a number of authorities who hold this opinion; Rabbi Avraham Dov Lichtenstein,Hinukh Beit Yehudah, No. 92 quoted by Rabbi Greenwald p. 370; this was the instruction of the Rabbi N. Hacohen author ofSemikhat Hakhamim quoted by Rabbi Greenwald, p. 169, note 19; Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (Brody, 1765-1869) instructed his son and his students that they should recite kaddish for him for 12 full months and, if he should die in a leap year, for 13 full months — see Beit Yitzhak, Yoreh Deah, No. 157, quoted by Rabbi Greenwald, ibid., and by Rabbi Gedalia Felder, p. 224; Rabbi Rafael Aharon ibn Shimon, Nehar Mitzrayim, Alexandria, 1908,Aveilut, parag. 161, says that this is the custom of both Egypt and Jerusalem; Rabbi Ya’akov Cohen, Divrei Ya’akov, Djerba, 1912, quoted by Rabbi Ya’akov Yosef, p. 214, note 6; Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Algazi, Shalmei Tzibbur, fol. 190b quoted by Sedei Hemedand by Rabbi Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad, Responsa Rav Pealim, Part 3, Yoreh Deah, No. 32; Rabbi David Novak.

Rabbi Greenwald (p. 369, note 19) concludes his survey of our topic as follows:

And especially in some congregations that on the day that the mourner stops reciting kaddish, on that very day he also gives a “writ of divorce” to the synagogue and to tefillin and to all the holy things of the Jewish people, it is required that rabbis should make an effort that they should recite kaddish for all twelve months.

B) Eleven Months

This custom was quoted by Rabbi Yitzhak of Corbeil (d. 1293) in a responsum (quoted in Responsa Binyamin Ze’ev, No. 161, which is quoted in turn by Rabbi Moshe Isserles in Darkei Moshe to Tur Yoreh Deah 376):

And the universal custom is not to recite kaddish except for 11 months, in order that a person not compare his father to the wicked of Israel, even he [i.e. a wicked person] gets out of his judgment within 12 months.

The belief that the judgment of the wicked in Gehinom is 12 months is found in many sources (see Mishnah Eduyot 2:10; Tosefta Sanhedrin 13:4, ed. Zuckermandel, p. 434; Shabbat 33b; Rosh Hashanah 17a and cf. Rabbi Novak note 6).

The custom of 11 months was also the opinion of Rabbi Ya’akov Mollin, the Maharil (d. 1427), as quoted by his disciple Rabbi Zalman in Minhagei Maharil, Hilkhot Semakhot (ed. Spitzer,Jerusalem, 1989, p. 599):

…but he should not pray [i.e. lead the prayers] and recitekaddish yatom, only for 11 months, in order not to regard them as sinners, but the twelfth month he should observe all the rest of mourning [customs]…

The Maharil gives a similar ruling in Responsa Maharil, No. 22.

This was also the opinion of Rabbi Moshe Isserles, the Rema, which he first stated in his Darkei Moshe Ha’arokh to Tur Yoreh Deah 376. A similar statement is found in his glosses to Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 376:4:

It is found in the midrashim to recite kaddish for a father, therefore it is customary to recite for a father and mother the last kaddish 12 months… And it is customary to recite kaddish and lead the prayers for only 11 months, so that they should not make their father and mother out to be wicked, because the judgment of the wicked is 12 months.

This approach was accepted by: Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe, Levush Hatekhelet to Orah Hayyim 133:1; Ba’eir Heiteiv to Orah Hayyim132, towards the end of subparag. 5; Rabbi Yehiel Michel Epstein,Arukh Hashulhan, Yoreh Deah 376:15; Rabbi Eliezer Hayyim Deutsch, Dudaey Sadeh, Seini, 1929, No. 48; Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, p. 69; Rabbi Gedalia Felder, p. 224; Rabbi Aaron Felder, p. 119; Rabbi Abner Weiss, p. 151.

Due to the authority of the Rema, this has become the most well-known custom among Ashkenazic Jews.

The next two customs are late variations of the custom of reciting kaddish for 11 months:

C) Stop reciting the Mourner’s Kaddish after 11 months; but one can still recite Kaddish Derabbanan, serve as cantor and learn mishnayot during the 12^th Month

This is the opinion of many aharonim [later authorities]: Rabbi Mordechai Yehudah Leib Winkler, Levushei Mordechai Tinyana, No. 164 re. serving as cantor and learning mishnayot; Rabbi Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad in Ben Ish Hay and Responsa Rav Pealimquoted below; Rabbi Ya’akov Hayyim Sofer, Kaf Hahayyim to Orah Hayyim 55, parag. 25; Rabbi Eliezer Hayyim Deutsch, Responsa Dudaei Sadeh, Seini, 1929, No. 28 and cf. No. 48; Rabbi Shimon Greenfeld, Responsa Maharshag, Orah Hayyim, No. 52 as quoted by Rabbi Greenwald, p. 370, Rabbi Waldenberg, p. 69, and Rabbi Gedalia Felder, p. 225; Rabbi Yehiel Michel Epstein, Arukh Hashulhan, Yoreh Deah 376:13 re. mishnayot; Rabbi Tukechinsky, p. 328; Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, p. 214, note 4, quoting Rabbi Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad, Responsa Rav Pealim quoted below; Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, Even Ya’akov, pp. 69-70 allows the learning ofmishnayot, but as for kaddish derabbanan, a mourner may recite it in the 12^th month after regular study, but not after special study ofmishnayot for the deceased; Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Tzror Hahayyim, parag. 263, as quoted by Rabbi Goldman, p. 133.

D) Stop reciting kaddish one day before the end of the 11^thmonth

This was apparently done so that the mourner should not recite kaddish at all during the 12^th month. This was the opinion of manyaharonim, including: Peri Megadim in Kuntress Noam Megadimquoted by Rabbi Greenwald, p. 370; Rabbi Efraim Zalman Margaliot, Mateh Efraim, Dinei Kaddish Yatom, Sha’ar 4, parag. 2; Rabbi Yosef Shaul Nathanson, Yosef Da’at to Yoreh Deah 376;Siddur Derekh Hahayyim quoted by Rabbi Medini in Sedei Hemed; Rabbi Shalom Shakhna Chernik, Hayyim Uberakhah L’mishmeret Shalom, Letter Kuf, parag. 43, p. 93 quoting a number of authorities who held this opinion; Rabbi Malkiel Tzvi Tanenbaum,Responsa Divrei Malkiel, Part 4, No. 96; Rabbi Yisrael Meir Hakohen, Beiur Halakhah to Orah Hayyim 132:2; Rabbi Tukechinski, pp. 327, 346; Rabbi Tzvi Rabinowicz, p. 75; Rabbi Norman Lamm; Rabbi Goldberg, p. 352, note 3 quoting many rabbis who held this opinion.

The next two customs are a compromise between the two early customs of 11 or 12 months:

E) Twelve Months Except for the Last Week

A number of rabbis tried to reconcile the requirement of reciting kaddish for 12 months with the popular belief that the judgment of the wicked in Gehinom is 12 months. These rabbis compromised by ruling that a mourner should recite kaddish for twelve months less the last week.

Rabbi Hayyim Benveniste (Turkey, 1603-1673) wrote in Knesset Hagedolah to Yoreh Deah end of parag. 403, Hagahot Beit Yosef17 (as quoted by Rabbi Yitzhak Lampronti, Pahad Yitzhak and by Rabbi Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad, Responsa Rav Pealim, Part 3,Yoreh Deah, No. 32):

Said the editor: But I ruled to recite kaddish and prayer for all twelve months less one week, since the reason is because the judgment of the wicked in Gehinom is twelve months, as long as one day is missing from the 12 months, it is enough.

Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulai, the Hida, concurred (Birkei Yosef to Yoreh Deah 376, subparagraph 8):

According to what the Ari [Rabbi Yitzhak Luria] ztz”l wrote that kaddish also helps to elevate his soul [i.e. of the departed], it seems that [the mourner] should recite kaddish for all twelve months. But because of the masses [who think that this means that the mourner’s parent was wicked], he should omit the last week…

Rabbi Abraham Samuel Sofer (1815-1871), author of the Ketav Sofer, actually did this for his father, Rabbi Moshe Sofer (1762-1839), according to Rabbi Yoel Roth, Responsa Beit Hayotzer,Orah Hayyim, No. 45 as quoted by Rabbi Greenwald, p. 369, note 19. Rabbi Tukechinsky, p. 327, reports that some individuals follow the ruling of Rabbi Benveniste and Rabbi Azulai. Rabbi Abner Weiss agrees with this custom if the person reciting kaddish is nota son.

F) Twelve Full Months Except for One Week at theBeginning of the Twelfth Month

According to this custom, one recites kaddish for 11 months, stops for one week, and then continues until the yahrzeit. This was the custom in Baghdad in the 19^th century, according to Rabbi Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad (d. 1909, Ben Ish Hai, First Year, Parashat Vayehi, parag. 14). After quoting the above-mentioned opinion of Rabbi Azulai to recite kaddish for one week less than 12 months, he adds:

And here in our city Baghdad this was their custom: At the end of 11 months they do extra learning… and they take a break [from reciting kaddish] after this for one week at the beginning of the 12^th month, and even though the rabbi z”l [i.e. Rabbi Azulai] wrote that one takes a break during the last week of the [12^th] month, it doesn’t matter for it’s all the same.

He repeats this custom in his Responsa Rav Pealim, Part 3, Yoreh Deah, No. 32, where he justifies it on the basis of mysticism. One must recite the kaddish at the end of the 12 months because the main ascent of the soul in the heavens is at that time.

This custom is recommended by Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on the basis of Rabbi Hayyim Benveniste and Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulay, but, as we have seen, those two rabbis did not recommend this specific custom. This is also the opinion of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Tzror Hahayyim, parag. 263, as quoted by Rabbi Goldman, p. 132, note 50.

The final two customs are rare and did not catch on:

G) Twelve Full Months and his Entire Life

This is the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer Papo (1786-1827) in his ethical work Pele Yo’eitz, Ma’arekhet Av Va’em (as quoted by Sedei Hemed and by Shmuel Glick, p. 148, end of note 75): “since it causes the raising up of their [ i.e. the deceased’s] soul according to the Ari z”l [Rabbi Yitzhak Luria], he recited kaddish his entire life”. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef cites this source and says that “if he wants, he is allowed to recite kaddish after” the 12 months.

H) Twelve Lunar Months plus 10 or 11 Days i.e. a Full Solar Year

Rabbi Yitzhak of Corbeil (d. 1293) wrote in the responsum quoted above:

Regarding the Kaddish of the departed, it is necessary to recite it for 12 months and 10 days [or: 11 days] like the year of the flood in Parashat Noah. Rashi explained (on Genesis 8:14)… for the judgment of the generation of the flood is a full year, which is 11 days that the [solar year] is greater than the [lunar year]…

This opinion is hard to fathom because the judgment of the generation of the flood is 12 months i.e. lunar months and notsolar months (Mishnah Eduyot 2:10 and Genesis Rabbah 28:9).

IV) Practical Halakhah

After reviewing all of the customs mentioned above, I believe that only four are worthy of serious consideration:

— The 13^th century custom of reciting kaddish for 12 months (A). This makes sense since all mourning customs for parents are for 12 months. It also makes sense from an educational point of view, as Rabbi Greenwald pointed out.

— The 13^th century custom of reciting kaddish for 11 months (B). While the reasoning may not appeal to many modern Jews, this custom began in France and Germany over 700 years ago and is widely observed by Ashkenazic Jews because it was endorsed by the Rema.

— The approach of Rabbis Benveniste and Azulai of 12 months less the last week (E) is a good compromise, since it maximizes the recitation of kaddish, but takes into consideration what people might think or say.

— The Iraqi custom of 12 months less the first week of the 12^thmonth (F) will probably appeal to Jews who wish to follow a custom of Edot Hamizrah (Jews of the Middle East).

In any case, all rabbis agree that in order for the mourners’ kaddish to be meaningful, it should be accompanied by the performance of other mitzvot such as leading services, Torah study, comforting other mourners and giving tzedakah. May God send comfort to all mourners and may “my Lord God wipe the tears away from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8).

David Golinkin
Jerusalem
27 Tevet 5773

Bibliography

I) Literature about the Kaddish

General

Rabb David Assaf, Sefer Hakaddish: Mekoro, Mashmauto V’dinav,Haifa, 1966; second edition,Haifa, 1999, esp. pp. 138-145

Leon Charney and Saul Mayzlish, The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism, 2008 = Kaddish: Hashpa’ato Al Hayahadut, Ben Shemen, 2008

Rabbi Eliezer Zalmen Grayevsky, Sefer Kaddish L’olam,Jerusalem, 1891

Rabbi Shemaryahu Leib Hurwitz, Sefer Hakaddish,New York, 1926

Yoram Verte and Yaron David, Tom Utehom: Tefillat Hakaddish Basifrut Ha’yisraelit, Tel Aviv, 2009

Leon Wieseltier, Kaddish,New York, 1998

Academic Studies

Levi Ginzberg, Ginzei Schechter, Vol. I,New York, 1928, pp. 235-237

Shmuel Glick, Or L’avel, Efrat, 1991, pp. 147-158

David Golinkin, The Status of Woman in Jewish Law: Responsa,Jerusalem, 2012, p. 232, note 1

Tzvi Karl, Hakaddish,Lvov, 1935, esp. pp. 79-94

Shmuel Krauss, Bitzaron 1/2 (5700), pp. 125-139

M. B. Lerner, Assufot 2 (5748), pp. 29-70

A. N. Z. Roth, Talpiot 7/2-4 (5761), pp. 371-376

David de Sola Pool, The Kaddish,New York, 1909 and reprints

Daniel Sperber, Minhagei Yisrael,Jerusalem, 1989, p. 71, note * (a bibliography)

Yisrael Ta-Shema, Tarbitz 53/4 (5744), pp. 559-568 = idem,Minhag Ashkenaz Hakadmon,Jerusalem, 1992, pp. 299-310

II) Discussions of our topic

Rabbi Hayyim Benveniste, Knesset Hagedolah to Yoreh Deah, end of parag. 403, Beit Yosef 17

Rabbi Shalom Shakhna Chernik, Hayyim Uberakhah L’mishmeret Shalom, Bilgoray, 1930, Letter Kuf, parag. 43, p. 93

Rabbi Aaaron Felder, Yesodei Smochos, revised edition,New York, 1976, p. 119

Rabbi Gedalia Felder, Yesodei Yeshurun, Vol. 1, Toronto, 1954, pp. 224-225, which appeared again with a few additions in hisTanya Rabbati, Vol. 1,New York, 1976, pp. 218-220

Shmuel Glick, Or L’avel, Efrat, 1991, p. 147, note 75

Rabbi Hayyim Binyamin Goldberg, Penei Barukh,Jerusalem, 1986, pp. 350-352

Rabbi Gavriel Goldman, Mei’olam Ve’ad Olam, third edition,Jerusalem, 2006, pp. 132-133

Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Greenwald, Kol Bo Al Aveilut,Jerusalem andNew York, 5733, pp. 369-370

Rabbi Maurice Lamm, The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning,New York, 1969, pp. 162-163; revised edition,New York, 2000, p. 155

Rabbi Yitzhak Lampronti, Pahad Yitzhak, Vol. 7, Lyck, 1874, fol. 157a, s.v. Kaddish

Rabbi Hayyim Hizkiyah Medini, Sedeh Hemed, Aveilut, No. 162, ed. Schneerson, Vol. 4, p. 709

Rabbi David Novak, Law and Theology in Judaism, First Series,New York, 1974, pp. 112-113

Rabbi Tzvi Rabinowicz, A Guide to Life: Jewish Laws and Customs of Mourning, third edition,Northvale,NJ andLondon, 1989, p. 75

Rabbi Yehiel Michal Tukechinsky, Gesher Hahayim, second edition, Vol. 1,Jerusalem, 5720, pp. 327-328, 346

Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, Even Ya’akov at the end of Tzitz EliezerVol. 5, No. 49, pp. 68-70

Rabbi Abner Weiss, Death and Bereavement: A Halakhic Guide,Hoboken,NJ andNew York, 1991, p. 151

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, Yalkut Yosef, Part 7,Jerusalem, 1989, pp. 213-214; second edition, Jerusalem, 2004, pp. 476-477

Photo Credit: Adam Jones PhD

All four volumes of Rabbi Prof. David Golinkin’s Responsa In A Moment – Halakhic Responses to Contemporary Issues as well as other books by the author are available for purchase from the Schocken-JTS Press Bookstore.