When Leon Wieseltier's father died, he began the traditional year-long period of mourning, reciting three times a day the prayer known as the mourner's kaddish. Struck by its unexpected power and his lack of knowledge about it, Wieseltier began to study the origin of this ancient ritual. Kaddish records his journey of discovery.
Leon Wieseltier's Kaddish is a completely new kind of book. It is not quite philosophy, autobiography, history, or Midrash, but it blends all of these genres into a narrative of Wieseltier's grief during the year following his father's death. Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic, is a mostly unobservant Jew whose grief compelled him to observe his religion's rituals of mourning, daily attending synagogue to recite the Kaddish (the traditional Jewish prayers of mourning). He also delved deeply into a vast range of texts describing the history and spiritual significance of these prayers. And he wrote incessantly, describing with force and clarity the process of bringing his mind and heart to bear on the grief that consumed him. Perhaps the best way of describing this moving, illuminating, hopeful, awe-filled book is to quote a stray line from the first page of the book's first chapter: "Out of tears, thoughts." --Michael Joseph Gross
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Amongst the best:
I was given this book when saying kaddish for my mother. I found it insightful, learned and scholarly and not in the least bit indulgent as suggested by other reviewers. Its entirely accessible as one can dip in and out of its pages at will and find interesting and thought provoking material at almost every turn. A touch repetitious yes but then again the ritual of kaddish is itself repetitious but in each recitation perhaps a glimmer of meaning anew. I have been recommending it for the years since and just... more info
KADDISH:
Erudite and scholarly, but written in a friendly reader manner. Still a slow but enjoyable read even with a Judaics background of names, history etc. Written at least at a college level or higher.
A Sincere, Intellectual, and Philosophical Masterpiece:
If you are a religious scholar who is interested in the ancient origins of prayers offered for the dead, no academic research ever published will provide the abundance of insights that can be found on the pages of Wieseltier's "Kaddish." My book is now dog-eared, highlighted and underlined; and I have a lengthy collection of quotes that I carry with me and continue to review for new meaning. The trick is to read it slowly and often. "Paper is stronger than stone. The Jews knew this."
Moving and learned reflection at times:
The reactions to this book are extreme with many people deploring the author's pomposity and self- indulgence and others finding his reflections deep and moving. I read the book with a strong sense of its being a sincere effort to understand how to truly mourn for a parent. I did however sense what one reviewer on Amazon a Mr.Wexler pointed out, that the author says little about who his father really was, shows no great personal connection to him. I too in truth was bothered by the question of making use of... more info
