Kaddish DeRabbanan

It started as the end of a class

In the Gemara, Kaddish shows up in synagogues and study halls and at the end of a Torah talk, not at a funeral. One passage calls the main line "the Yehe shemeh rabba of aggadah" (aggadah: the Sages' stories and ideas, not law). Rashi (the classic commentator, France, died 1105) fills in the scene: every Shabbat a speaker taught in public, all the people came because nobody was working, and at the end everyone answered this line together. Kaddish DeRabbanan, said after learning, keeps that setting.

What makes it "the Rabbis' Kaddish"

One paragraph: Al Yisrael ve'al rabbanan, a prayer for the teachers of Torah and their students. The Rambam (Maimonides, who died in 1204) writes that when ten or more finish learning the Oral Torah, even midrash or aggadah, one of them says a Kaddish that includes it, "and this is what is called Kaddish DeRabbanan." Eliyah Rabbah (a commentary on Jewish law from Prague, around 1700) gives two reasons for the name: it prays for the rabbis, or it was set up for the Oral Torah, which is the rabbis' learning.

You are in this prayer

The list does not stop at rabbis. It goes on to "all who are busy with Torah, in this place and in every place," and asks for peace "for them and for you." Abudarham (a commentary on the prayers, Spain, around 1340) says the three generations in it, teachers, students, and students of students, echo a promise in Yeshayahu: the words of Torah "will not leave your mouth, or your children's mouth, or the mouth of your children's children." You just learned Rabbi Yishmael's rules. That puts you on the list.

Why is it here?

Because you just finished learning. The Tur (a law code from the 1300s) says Eizehu Mekoman and Rabbi Yishmael's rules were placed after the offering verses so that every day you learn all three kinds of Torah: verses, Mishnah, and midrash, which counts as Gemara. (The Eilu Devarim prayer explains the idea.) Kaddish DeRabbanan is what a group says when it finishes learning the Oral Torah. So the first Kaddish of the morning does not close a prayer. It closes a study session.

The main line is almost a quote from Daniel

Yehe shemeh rabba mevarakh means "May His great name be blessed." In the book of Daniel, which is partly in Aramaic, God shows Daniel the secret of the king's dream at night, and Daniel answers: "May the name of God be blessed from forever and to forever." Tehillim has nearly the same line in Hebrew. And the Sifrei (an early midrash on Devarim) already knows it as a back-and-forth: some say "May His great name be blessed," and the others answer "forever and for all time."

The number ten comes from the spies

Kaddish is only said with ten. The Gemara learns it from the verse "I will be made holy among the children of Israel": anything that declares God's holiness needs a community. How many is a community? The Gemara points to the spies who brought back the bad report, whom God calls a "community." Abudarham does the math: twelve went, Yehoshua and Calev stood apart, ten were left. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) rules that Kaddish needs ten adult men.

The last line switches to Hebrew

After a prayer that is mostly Aramaic, the closing line is all Hebrew: Oseh shalom bimromav, "He who makes peace in His heights." Those three words come from the book of Iyov. Why would heaven need peace? The Tur says the words are about the angels. Some are fire and some are water, two opposites, and neither puts the other out. The line then asks the One who manages that to make peace for us and for all Israel.

Locks of iron

Why is Kaddish in Aramaic and not in Hebrew? The Zohar (the central book of Kabbalah) gives its own answer. Aramaic, it says, is the language of the "other side," its name for the forces that oppose holiness. Kaddish is said in that language on purpose, and answered "with strong force," so that the power of the other side breaks. The Zohar says this Kaddish rises on every side and "breaks locks and seals of iron." Listen for that force the next time a room answers.

וַאֲנָן בָּעֵינָן לְמֵימַר לָהּ בְּלִישָׁנָא דְּסִטְרָא אַחֲרָא, וּלְאָתָבָא בְּחֵילָא תַּקִּיף, אָמֵן יְהֵא שְׁמֵיהּ רַבָּא מְבָרַךְ, בְּגִין דְּיִתְבַּר חֵילָא דְּסִטְרָא אַחֲרָא

Angels do not get jealous

A well-known explanation says Kaddish is in Aramaic so that the angels, who do not know Aramaic, will not be jealous of such a praise. The Maharal (Rabbi Yehudah Loew of Prague, who died in 1609) says it cannot mean that simply: "there is no jealousy among angels." He explains that this praise reaches a level angels do not reach. An angel stays what it is and cannot gain a higher level. Israel is headed for the World to Come, so Israel can bless God as far as the highest world. So it is said in a language that is not the angels' own.

שאין קנאה במלאכים, רק מפני שהשבח הזה מגיע למדריגה עליונה שאין מגיע שם מדריגת המלאכים

Why after learning, and not after praying

The Gemara (Sotah 49a) says that since the Temple was destroyed, the world stands on two things. One is the "Yehe shemeh rabba" answered after public Torah teaching. Why that Kaddish and not the ones inside the prayers? The Maharal answers that when people gather to pray, each has come to ask for what he needs, and a person can pray alone anyway. When people gather to hear Torah, to know God's laws, the gathering itself is for God's honor. Kaddish DeRabbanan is the Kaddish said after learning.

אבל האסיפה והקבוץ כדי לשמוע הדרשה לדעת חקי ה' ותורתו דבר זה הוא כבוד הש"י

A Kaddish at every step up

Kaddish keeps coming back in the siddur. The Arizal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the Kabbalist of Tzfat, who died in 1572) explains why. Shacharit, he taught, climbs in four stages: up to Baruch She'amar, then to the blessings before Shema, then to the Amidah, then the Amidah itself. Then it comes back down. "So they set one Kaddish at every change of world," he says, calling each stage a world. The one exception is the step into the Amidah. This Kaddish, before Hodu, is the first. He calls it the pillar by which a level rises into the one above it.

ולכן תקנו קדיש אחד בכל שינוי עולם ועולם. ונתחיל מן הראשון שהוא הקדיש שקודם הודו לה'

As clear as the thought

The Gemara (Berakhot 3a) says that when Jews answer "Yehe shemeh rabba," God says: "Happy is the King who is praised in His house like this." Rabbi Asher of Stolin, a Chassidic rebbe of the Karlin line, asked what "like this" adds. In thought, he said, a person can think about God's greatness and love with no confusion. But when he wants to pray, a stray thought comes. The "house" is the letters of the prayer, which surround the thought the way a house surrounds a person. "Like this" means: as clear as it was in thought.

במחשבה האדם יכול לחשוב כל מה שהוא רוצה הן בגדולת הבורא יתברך והן באהבת הבורא יתברך בלא שום בלבול. רק אם הוא רוצה להתפלל אז באה לו מחשבה זרה

Can I say Kaddish when I daven alone?

No. The Shulchan Aruch (the main code of Jewish law) rules that Kaddish is not said with fewer than ten free adult males. The Mishnah Berurah (a central commentary on daily Jewish law, from around 1900) gives the source, the verse "I will be made holy among the children of Israel" (Vayikra 22:32), and says this covers every Kaddish, including the one after learning. The Shulchan Aruch HaRav (the code of law by the first Chabad Rebbe) adds: one says it and nine listen. Without nine listeners, it is not said.

Only three of us learned. Can we still say it?

If ten were in the room while you learned, the Mishnah Berurah says yes: even if only two or three learned, this Kaddish may be said, even by someone who did not learn. The Aruch HaShulchan (a code of law from around 1900) disagrees. He reads the Rambam (Maimonides, 1100s) as allowing it only when ten learn together. Peninei Halakhah (a modern guide to Jewish law by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed) records the custom: first say one short teaching of the Sages aloud. Then ten have heard it, and every view allows Kaddish.

Why is it mostly mourners who say it?

That is custom, not law. Peninei Halakhah explains that mourners say Kaddish because it benefits the soul of the person who died, and they got used to saying this one too. Where no one present has lost a parent, the custom is to skip it. But by the basic law, he writes, the prayer leader may say it, since it is not called the mourner's Kaddish. Pitchei Teshuvah (1800s notes on the Shulchan Aruch) cites a ruling: someone whose parents are both alive does not say the mourner's Kaddish, but may say this one.

How far does my answer go?

Everyone answers through almaya. Then customs split. Peninei Halakhah lists three: Ashkenazim stop there, Chassidim add the next word, yitbarakh, and Sephardim continue through da'amiran be'alma. The Shulchan Aruch calls stopping at almaya a mistake. The Shulchan Aruch HaRav praises stopping at yitbarakh and listening: racing a fast leader ruins your concentration. The Kaf HaChaim (a Sephardic law commentary, early 1900s) rules like the Arizal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the 1500s Kabbalist): all 28 words.

Where do I answer Amen?

Each time you hear ve'imru amen, "and say: Amen." Some come earlier. The Mishnah Berurah notes the custom to answer Amen after shemeh rabba in the opening line. Nusach Sefard has one more, after vikarev meshicheh: the Aruch HaShulchan calls it the Sephardic custom, and the Kaf HaChaim counts it among five Amens taught by the Arizal. After berikh hu, the Aruch HaShulchan records two customs: Amen, or the Ashkenazi answer, berikh hu. The Mishnah Berurah adds: pause briefly between Amen and yehe shemeh rabba.

Do I have to stand up for Kaddish?

Views differ. The Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, who added Ashkenazi practice to the Shulchan Aruch) writes that one should stand when answering Kaddish. The Kaf HaChaim quotes Rabbi Chaim Vital, the Arizal's student: his teacher did not get up for Kaddish, but if he was already standing he stayed up until he had answered. The Mishnah Berurah and the Shulchan Aruch HaRav bring both views and advise standing: even Eglon, king of Moav, rose from his throne for the word of God (Shoftim 3:20), so we certainly should.

How loud? And can I whisper to a friend meanwhile?

Loud, within reason. The Shulchan Aruch says to answer in a loud voice, and to try to run to hear Kaddish. The Mishnah Berurah explains: a raised voice wakes up your concentration, but do not shout so that people laugh at you. The Gemara's phrase "with all his strength" (Shabbat 119b) he explains as with heart and soul, not just moving your lips. Talking is out: be extremely careful, he says, not to talk during Kaddish. Even thinking about Torah is not allowed then: answering needs your full attention.