Humanistic Kaddishes?
I want to write something long and thoughtful about the Mourner's Kaddish and the problems it presents for an atheistic Jew such as myself, especially in concert with the amazing powers of ritual and tradition, but I know I won't get around to writing such a piece for quite a while, if ever, so in the mean time, I'll ask all the appropriate y'all... what do you do about this?
(The very short form is that the Jewish prayer for the dead says nothing at all about the dead and instead spends all its time praising God. I didn't really /get/ this until years after it was seared in to me as the Thing You Say when remembering the deceased and anything else _feels_ wrong. I've looked at various Humanistic versions of the Kaddish and none of them feel like What You Say... but
Exalted and hallowed be God's great name
in the world which God created, according to plan.
May God's majesty be revealed in the days of our lifetime
and the life of all Israel -- speedily, imminently, to which we say Amen.
Blessed be God's great name to all eternity.
Blessed, praised, honored, exalted, extolled, glorified, adored, and lauded
be the name of the Holy Blessed One, beyond all earthly words and songs of blessing,
praise, and comfort. To which we say Amen.
- to quote 90% of it - is not what I'm looking for, similarly to how Ecclesiastes 3 (To every thing (Turn, turn, turn)...) isn't, either.
This entry was originally posted at http://jbsegal.dreamwidth.org/562304.html. You can comment EITHER here, or there using OpenID.
There are
comments there.
(The very short form is that the Jewish prayer for the dead says nothing at all about the dead and instead spends all its time praising God. I didn't really /get/ this until years after it was seared in to me as the Thing You Say when remembering the deceased and anything else _feels_ wrong. I've looked at various Humanistic versions of the Kaddish and none of them feel like What You Say... but
Exalted and hallowed be God's great name
in the world which God created, according to plan.
May God's majesty be revealed in the days of our lifetime
and the life of all Israel -- speedily, imminently, to which we say Amen.
Blessed be God's great name to all eternity.
Blessed, praised, honored, exalted, extolled, glorified, adored, and lauded
be the name of the Holy Blessed One, beyond all earthly words and songs of blessing,
praise, and comfort. To which we say Amen.
- to quote 90% of it - is not what I'm looking for, similarly to how Ecclesiastes 3 (To every thing (Turn, turn, turn)...) isn't, either.
This entry was originally posted at http://jbsegal.dreamwidth.org/562304.html. You can comment EITHER here, or there using OpenID.
There are
comments there.