“May we of Israel together with our rabbis, their disciples and pupils, and all who engage in the study of holy Torah here and everywhere, find gracious favor and mercy from the Lord of heaven and earth.” (from the Kaddish deRabbanan)
In chanting the Kaddish deRabbanan during our daily prayer services, we invoke God’s mercy on all who teach and study Torah. This prayer was originally designed to be recited after a Torah lecture/homiletic discourse. It now also is chanted by mourners after the recitation of rabbinic passages.
The prayer underscores the importance of Torah study. The Talmud records the statement of Rabbi Hanina that Torah scholars increase peace in the world (Berakhot 64a). Torah study brings rabbis and their students closer to the Almighty, closer to each other, more devoted to the welfare of society.
When we recite the Kaddish deRabbanan, we have in mind all who study Torah because we believe that Torah provides God’s guidance for upright lives. Those who study Torah should surely be among the finest, most honest, most loving, and most righteous people in the world. And many of them are.
But when I recite the Kaddish deRabbanan these days, I feel a certain unease. I am troubled by the fact that not all rabbis and students of Torah are people who I find admirable or worthy of praise. There are those who study Torah but who act reprehensibly or say terrible things. They don’t increase peace in the world but rather increase hatred and divisiveness in the world.
The Jerusalem Post recently had an article about a rabbi from the extremist Neturei Karta group. He went to Brazil to meet with an Iranian government official to express his solidarity with Iran in the face of “Zionist” attacks. I assume that this rabbi studies Torah, but he openly identifies with the enemies of Israel who wish to annihilate the Jewish State. How can I pray for such a rabbi or others like him?
The Jerusalem Post also had an article quoting a previous Chief Rabbi of Israel who said that Israeli soldiers are being killed in battle because of a lack of Torah study. The implication is that if all Jews would be studying Torah, Israeli soldiers would not die in war. This rabbi is very learned and studies a lot of Torah; but his views on this matter, to my mind, are cruel, naïve and reprehensible. How can I pray for such a rabbi or others like him?
The Times of Israel reported on a prominent Haredi girls’ seminary in Jerusalem that plans to operate a separate program for Sephardic students that will have a different entrance from that of Ashkenazic students. Even though the municipality of Jerusalem required the school to accept Sephardic students without discriminating against them, the school’s director decided to establish a segregated program. No doubt the Haredi school establishment, including staff and parents, all study Torah. But in spite of this, they foster ugly discrimination against fellow Jews based on ethnicity. How can I pray for such people?
Perhaps when I recite Kaddish deRabbanan I should only have in mind those rabbis and students who study Torah in purity, who lead honest and compassionate lives, and who really do increase peace in the world. But the text specifically includes “all who engage in the study of holy Torah.” It makes no exceptions, even for those who speak and act inappropriately.
Perhaps the lesson is for us to accustom ourselves to beseech God’s mercy without our standing in judgment of the merits or demerits of the people for whom we pray. God is the ultimate Judge, not us. We pray that God, in graciousness and mercy, will lead all who study Torah to live moral, upright lives. We pray that the study of Torah will indeed bring rabbis and students to live righteously…to be sources of light, love and peace.
When we recite the Kaddish deRabbanan, then, we are not only praying for others: we are also praying for ourselves. May we live up to the standards we expect of others. May we be sources of Torah light, sweetness and peace. May we find “gracious favor and mercy from the Lord of heaven and earth.”