RELIGION: The Mystery of the Kaddish, By Leon Charney and Saul Mayzlish, JR Books, 236pp. £14.99WHEN LEON Charney's mother died, he set out, like all observant Jews, to recite Kaddish at a synagogue three times a day for 11 months. This solemn experience set him on a philosophical and metaphysical quest, writes Katrina Goldstone.
Charney is an American lawyer, author and former adviser to president Jimmy Carter, who has also hosted a current affairs show. His co-author, Saul Mayzlish, has written many books on Judaism.
The book purports to be about the Kaddish prayer, its evolution, history and significance as one of the most important prayers in Judaism - a prayer that even non-observant Jews may turn to. Charney states that he wanted to "explore how one of the most integral prayers of the Jewish people is practised in different communities and cultures under various rabbinical interpretations". In the search for answers about the Kaddish, Charney and Mayzlish travelled throughout Europe and to Israel and Turkey to interview rabbis, cantors and practising Jews on the origins and significance of the prayer.
CHARNEY TELLS us that the Kaddish began in early rabbinic times "as a kind of brief meditation carrying a message of hope, a sanctification . . . " However, as contradictory as it might seem, the Kaddish does not directly invoke the dead but is a prayer in praise of the Almighty. It was originally only recited for renowned scholars.
Several chapters in the book incorporate a history of pogroms and persecutions of Jews over the centuries as well as references to the Shoah (the Hebrew word for the Holocaust). The inclusion of this historical background is to support a number of theses that Kaddish originated as a an outlet for grief during times of persecution - as Charney puts it, "its use was expanded to serve as a channel to preserve the link between Divine providence and mortal man below who struggles on even though his whole world has collapsed".
Charney charts the evolution and developments of the prayer, the differing interpretations of it through diverse communities, and its pivotal place in Jewish life. He posits the argument that its burgeoning centrality owes much to the history of earlier persecutions of the Jewish people. Yet despite his travels and researches, he does not actually manage to definitively locate the sources of the Kaddish prayer. He sees the function of the prayer as profound. Its significance, he argues, lies in its power to unite: "it is the reciting of Kaddish in a minyan that fostered and reinforced the communal aspects of Judaism", perhaps an overly simplistic assertion.
Into the religious information, the authors also throw musings on concepts of death. The tone of the text veers between the solemn and didactic and a cosy insiderness. This is underscored with quotations of untranslated bits of Hebrew that may be intelligible to religious Jews, but would not be necessarily understood by the general public or secular Jews. Some chapters consist wholly of quotations from other books, such as the one entitled "Kaddish and Women". At the conclusion of a long extended quote from the author Rabbanit Miller, Charnley reminds the reader that in reform Judaism, women can now lead prayers and say Kaddish.
At times the many digressions in the book make it feel a little bit like getting stuck in the corner at a wedding with two garrulous uncles. It is hard to work out exactly who the book is aimed at, with its mix of references to Talmud, rabbinic texts, as well as to folklore - a real mish-mash. Where a theory is advanced, for example on the transcultural aspects of the prayer - such as the contentious one that Kaddish may have partially developed influence from part of Christian mourning rites - there is not always sufficient robust evidence to support it.
The book will doubtless make intriguing reading to those who have gone or will go through the prescribed period reciting Kaddish. However, it does not quite manage to pull off greater ambitions towards a broader appeal. In the US it features high up on religious best-seller lists.
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Katrina Goldstone is communications officer of Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, and a freelance critic and researcher