The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism

by Leon H. Charney, Saul Mayzlish

The Kaddish is considered by millions of Jews to be a special prayer one recites for the dead. It isn't. This book contains much new information as it traces the evolution of the Kaddish.

Genres: Judaism, Judaica

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 25, 2006

About the author

An accomplished author, Charney has written four books: “Battle of the Two Talmuds,” “The Charney Report: Confronting the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” “The Mystery of the Kaddish” and “Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace” – which formed the basis for the critically acclaimed documentary film of the same name.

For more than 20 years, Charney has moderated “The Leon Charney Report,” an award-wining, nationally televised program featuring one-on-one interviews with some of the best and brightest from around the world.

Charney is the recipient of many awards, including four honorary doctorate degrees. A noted philanthropist, Charney is the major benefactor of the University of Haifa’s Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences and he donated millions to New York University Medical Center for a new cardiac wing of the hospital. Charney is married to Israeli-born Tzili Doron and with her he has twin boys. They divide their time between residences in New York City, Tel Aviv and Boca Raton, Fla.

Reviews

[Havva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but sadly reads like an early draft

[Noah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads like a first draft. Directionless and uninformative.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part I is a meandering meditation on the Kaddish that takes the form of a personal travelogue as the author visits cities and synagogues first in Israel and then in Europe to discuss the Kaddish with various rabbis. There is some good information here and some good insights. This was the better part of the book, and had it ended it here it would have been decent, maybe even 3 stars rather than 2.

Part II is a quick review of various pogroms and murders of Jewish communities. The author asserts that the rabbis added the Kaddish prayer as a way of coping with the vast numbers of dead from plague and war (especially the Crusades). He emphasizes that they were influenced by Christian mourning practices. This is the part that I gave up on. It is highly disorganized without any clear direction.

Definitely not a scholarly work on the history and development of the Kaddish prayers.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leon Charney and Sha’ul Maizlish bring the reader through the history of Judaism and on a path through the world to show us how the Kaddish has come to guide those who have suffered loss or are grieving. This book shows us how the Kaddish can help us to heal and find support through our faith. Though the Kaddish was once used only rarely for only some of the Jewish population, it grew to become necessary for all of Judaism as tragedy befalls us all. It is a great read for anyone who is looking to use the Kaddish to help them or is interested in the history of the Kaddish.

[Jon-Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title and subtitle of this book imply that it would be more than a memoir of a tour of Holocaust sites. Though there is a very limited amount of scholarly discussion of the Kaddish prayer, it is not much. I was disappointed.

[Hadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

learnt something,,,,

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, but a tad dry and really didn't say much I was expecting.