Some 1,200 families will soon finish saying the Mourner’s Kaddish for their loved ones who were murdered on Simchat Torah (October 7). The custom is to recite the Kaddish prayer three times daily for eleven months, and that period ends this week. What is the meaning of the words of this prayer, which was recited over and over again this year?

Friends and family members mourn near graves of Israeli soldiers killed in recent war at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, on May 12, 2024, ahead of Israeli Memorial Day. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Enlrage image
Friends and family members mourn near graves of Israeli soldiers killed in recent war at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem, on May 12, 2024, ahead of Israeli Memorial Day. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

The Kaddish opens with the mourners expressing their desire to glorify and sanctify the magnificent Name of God: “Yitgadal V’Yitkadash Shmei Rabbah!” The words that follow describe a perfect world that has achieved its tikkun (rectification), and beseeching that God’s presence in the world be further magnified: “Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled and honored, adored and lauded…”

https://www.jpost.com/judaism/torah-portion/article-816588