Edot: Mourner's Kaddish and the Language of Holiness

Our Edot class is back in full swing following a two-week winter break. I missed the first Sunday class, as I was attending the annual meeting of the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West of which I'm a Trustee, and which oversees, among others, the Sonora Pioneer Jewish Cemetery which we visited during our November field trip. Under the very able direction of Yardena, one of our Isaiah Religious School substitutes (first session), and Ariel, my co-teacher second session, the students continued working on their Shabbat Seder booklet projects. Joel Siegel visited the class, and taught two Yiddish Shabbat songs which we'll be singing during the upcoming family Shabbat Seder (Friday evening, January 25th, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. - be sure to rsvp as soon as possible, even if you can't join us!). The two songs are, "Shabbes, Shabbes, Shabbes" and "L'Cho Doidi."

During the weekday sessions, we took a break for a bit from our Shabbat Seder booklet preparations, to take a close look at the Mourner's Kaddish prayer. This semester, three or four children from each 3rd-6th grade track will be helping to lead a prayer during our week day t'fila service. Our Edot track has been assigned to help lead the Mourner's Kaddish. We began our in depth look at the prayer by looking at the "koof-daled-shin" shoresh (root) of the word "Kaddish." We learned that every word built from these three letters must have something to do with "holiness." After reading through the English translation of the prayer, we discovered that not one mention is made of the person who died, of death, or even of life. Instead, the entire prayer, which is written in Aramaic (a very close cousin to Hebrew, sharing the same roots as Hebrew words) praises God. This led us into an animated discussion as to why there is no mention of death or the deceased person in the "mourner's" prayer. Most of the students came to the conclusion that we praise God who holds the power over life and death, and several students thought that since Judaism teaches that time will eventually end, and we will enter an era of "absolute time" (a Rabbinic term) when there will be no past, present, or future and we will exist in the dimension in which God exists (also referred to as the Messianic era), that everyone who dies will exist again, and so we praise God for this rather than "mourn" the person who is temporarily lost to us. Obviously, this is a very complicated issue in Judaism, but I'm impressed with the thinking process these students went through, using information they have already learned to try to solve a question that philosophers, rabbis, and many others are still grappling with. Not everyone agreed with this conclusion, but that is no different than about 3/4 of the Rabbinic arguments and discussions in the Talmud. In fact, there was one point during the discussion when I realized the discussion was so animated and so many wanted to have their voices heard, it must be similar to Talmudic discussions through the ages.It's during discussions like these that I wish we had more time in Religious School. It's frustrating for me to have to stop a discussion because we've run out of time.

Before the end of the session, the students wrote a very special blessing to include in the booklet (which they'll share with you at the family Shabbat Seder or at home, if they can't attend), so I won't give away any information about it now. We also took 10 minutes, as we do each week day session and sometimes on Sundays, for the "Hebrew Through Movement" program. I'm happy to report that the two week vacation did not erase most of the vocabulary we learned during the first semester, and that after just a short review, most of the students were recognizing all the commands again. During the coming months, Tammy Helman (our Hebrew specialist) and I will be introducing Shabbat and holiday vocabulary, which will allow us to give such commands in Hebrew as "Walk to the table; pick up the Shabbat candles; put the Shabbat candles into the candle holders; light the Shabbat candles; cover your eyes; say the blessing over the Shabbat candles, etc."

The students are already familiar with the blessings we say over the "Welcoming Shabbat" (Shabbat Seder) rituals, which they have been copying to include in their Shabbat Seder booklets.

I'd also like to welcome a new boy into our Edot class - Austin, whose family has recently moved to the Bay Area from San Diego. B'roocheem Ha'Ba'eem (literally "Blessed are those who come," and used as a welcoming greeting in Hebrew).