Kaddish

[buznog]

My father died five months ago. Jewish tradition is for the mourner to say kaddish every day for eleven months after the funeral. (There are several other religious practices). For those who do not know, Kaddish is a dirge-like mantra, written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. The meaning of the words has to do neither with mourning nor with comfort

Comments

[latkejew]

This is beautiful! You paraphrased my favorite Rabbi, Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav! I love his work and have two of his compiled books. I agree that being outdoors for a walk is a spiritual experience and one I take part in everyday. I walk 20 minutes from my shuttle stop to work every morning and during that time, I say, "Thank you," to G-d for being alive and being able to breathe in all that I am seeing and feeling. To live a life with meaning, we have to imbue life with meaning. G-d is in the details of the trees, the snow, the flowers, the dog, ourselves. Hugs to you buddy.
B'shalom,
Mr. M-

Hey

[buznog]

Thank you, thank you! I'll email you privately, a rather critical message I received, and my response.

There was an episode of "Northern Exposure" when the Jewish doctor had to say kaddish, in a remote town in the middle of nowhere, Alaska.

The locals got on the phone, and it turned out, there were nine Jews in the entire vast area, who were prepared to fly/drive/dog-sled their way to the town.

He declined, saying that kaddish is a communal prayer, and the local townsfolk were his community. He sad kaddish in the town hall, with the entire town there.
Love,
Ian