Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

May 6, 2016

The Medieval Origins of the Kaddish

Saving the lowliest sinners from hellfire.

While the kaddish may be the best known piece of Jewish liturgy, particularly in its function as a prayer for the dead, there is no mention of mourners reciting it until the 12th century, and then only in texts from France and Germany. David Shyovitz, questioning previous theories of the prayer’s origin, suggests his own:

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