This is the Forward’s coverage of the kaddish, a prayer said by Jews in synagogue as part of the daily ritual.
Kaddish
The Latest
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The Schmooze Natalie Portman Hypes Nathan Englander With Titillating Picture Of His Book
On reality star Khloe Kardashian’s Instagram page, she hawks for Flat Tummy Co. shakes, a laxative-based meal replacement product. On his page, DJ Khaled posts paid ads for sparkling wine. And on Jewish actress Natalie Portman’s Instagram, she peers out coquettishly behind a new piece of fiction by a man who once began a New…
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Community What I’ve Learned About Life Preparing Jewish Bodies For Death
It’s a crisp autumn day in Madison, Wisconsin, and I’m running late for a meeting with a dead person. I volunteer with my congregation’s Chevra Kadisha, a group that helps prepare Jewish bodies for burial and ensures that every congregant has company from the moment they’ve passed away until the last clump of dirt covers…
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Life The Prayer For My Mother That Made Me A Better Man
I am not a Jew who prays three times a day, in the morning, afternoon and evening as proscribed by Jewish law. Not like my wife’s four religious cousins who live with their large families in Israel. Not even like my Modern Orthodox brother in Jerusalem, who often dons a baseball cap and finds time…
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News The Day My Mormon Bishop Neighbor Asked for a Minyan
It began with a phone call on a cold winter day in January 1998. The purpose of the call, from a neighboring Mormon bishop I’d never spoken with before, was unusual: He was requesting a minyan. As president of a small lay-led congregation in Idaho Falls, Idaho — one of the only two Jewish congregations…
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Culture How To Say Kaddish For Your Father in 7 Different Cities
Just over a month ago, my dearly beloved father, Dr. Stephen S. Kutner z”l, passed away, right before my family and I had planned to take a complicated three-week East Coast road trip. After sitting shiva we decided to go through with the trip. And as a Jew mourning an immediate family member, that meant…
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Opinion Saying Kaddish Isn’t Always Profound — and Yet
I’ve resisted writing about my year of saying Kaddish for my mother. Writers more famous than I am have already produced overlong, overwritten tomes on the subject. Often, such writing carries a sense of lyrical, self-indulgent profundity. But my process hasn’t been profound. It’s been mundane, and pontification seems ridiculous. After 11 months, having taken…
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The Schmooze Mourners Sing Kaddish at Ben Bradlee’s Funeral
Getty Images Legendary newsman Ben Bradlee was put to rest on Wednesday at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. But among the traditional hymns and psalms listed in the program, something stands out: Hebrew script, spelling out the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for mourning. Now, the former Washington Post executive editor, who died October…
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Culture My Father, My Self
And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Hamlet, Act II, scene 2 It was his suggestion. We could work together on his obituary: father and son. In his final days, it would be another way to connect and smooth things over if there were any lingering bits of resentment. It was early…
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