The Power of Kaddish

Even Jews who may not keep many mitzvos or frequent a shul want to say Kaddish, but the meaning and the symbolism of the tefillah a mourner says three times a day for eleven months is often shrouded in confusion.

Rabbi Gedalia Zweig is determined to bring clarity and comfort to mourners straddling the interface between This World and the Next

It’s the mitzvah nobody wants to be in the position of doing, yet the one that requires full, daily commitment for eleven months. Saying Kaddish for a loved one is not a one-and-done, and for some mourners, it can be a heavy burden.

Eighteen years ago, Rabbi Gedalia Zweig of Toronto, Canada, entered the scene with his book Living Kaddish (Targum Press/Feldheim-distributed). A few weeks after his mother passed away, Rabbi Zweig was visiting Orlando with his family.

“I discovered that all minyans begin after Disneyworld closes for the day,” he says wryly. “I needed a minyan. I needed to recite Kaddish.”

He found his minyan in the end, but Rabbi Zweig had also uncovered an issue, a hole in the tapestry of Jewish life: The urgency of Kaddish wasn’t resonating with people. And that needed to change.