A Liturgical Quandry

[debka_notion]

Those of you who've used certain prayerbooks have encountered the version of Kaddish with the names of concentration camps interspersed between each of the words. It's absolutely horrid, in terms of the meaning of the text of Kaddish, which praises G-d, and is not actually a mournful text.

On the other hand, I've seen it used, and while I despised it, I also found it frighteningly effective, as an emotion-provoking piece. I don't know why it works, but it does.

So, when faced with something so contradictory, what do you do?

Comments

[jonahrank.livejournal.com]

I realize I'm not answering your question per se, but I think that there's an interesting tension between the Kaddish being a piece of praise and people recognizing it as a prayer for mourners, who are likely to have reason to be frustrated with rather than ready to praise God. The names of the concentration camps during the Kaddish to which you refer to, I feel, speaks very well to the subconscious of those reciting Kaddish at that moment of the service.

Anyway, my temporary two cents on the effectiveness of it...