kaddish – Linda K. Wertheimer

Remembering Jewishly Varies for Each of Us

By Linda | March 18, 2012 - 9:34 pm |March 18, 2012 Jewish muse

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March 18, 2012

It was somehow fitting. On the anniversary of my brother’s death on the Jewish calendar, I walked side by side with my mother up a South Carolina road.

Chanting Kaddish: Do the words or ritual provide the solace?

By Linda | March 5, 2010 - 7:05 am |March 14, 2010 Jewish muse

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Saying the mourner’s Kaddish during my brother’s yahrzeit, which I will do tonight at temple, usually tears me up. It is not so much the words that stir me; rather, it is the ritual. The prayer asks us to praise God, honor him, extol him, glorify him, and finally to wish that God will bring peace on us and all of Israel. There are no direct words of comfort, no pearls of wisdom designed to help us heal from loss.