Editing Kaddish (section)

== Customs ==

Kaddish may be spoken or chanted. In services on certain special occasions, it may be sung to special melodies. There are different melodies in different Jewish traditions, and within each tradition the melody can change according to the version, the day it is said and even the position in the service.<ref>For example:
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.virtualcantor.com/162%20musaf%20kaddish%20shalem.mp3|title=Virtual Cantor's Kaddish Shalem for Shabbat Mussaf|access-date=2009-10-17|archive-date=2011-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609111115/http://www.virtualcantor.com/162%20musaf%20kaddish%20shalem.mp3|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.virtualcantor.com/483%20RMus%20chatzi%20kaddish.mp3|title=Virtual Cantor's Hatzi Kaddish for Yom Kippur|access-date=2009-10-17|archive-date=2011-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609111052/http://www.virtualcantor.com/483%20RMus%20chatzi%20kaddish.mp3|url-status=live}}</ref> Many mourners recite Kaddish slowly and contemplatively.

In Sephardi synagogues the whole congregation sits for Kaddish, except:

* During the Half Kaddish immediately before the Amidah, where everyone stands;
* During the Mourner's Kaddish, where those reciting it stand and everyone else sits.

In [[Ashkenazi Jews#Customs.2C laws and traditions|Ashkenazi]] synagogues, the custom varies. Very commonly, in both [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] and [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] congregations, everyone stands for the Mourner's Kaddish; but in some (especially many [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] and [[Sephardic Judaism|Sephardic]]) synagogues, most of the congregants sit. Sometimes, a distinction is made between the different forms of Kaddish, or each congregant stands or sits according to his or her own custom. The Mourner's Kaddish is often treated differently from the other variations of Kaddish in the service, as is the Half Kaddish after a morning [[Torah reading]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ask-the-expert-standing-for-kaddish/|title=Ask the Expert: Standing for Kaddish|website=My Jewish Learning|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-28|archive-date=2019-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228084326/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ask-the-expert-standing-for-kaddish/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Those standing to recite Kaddish bow, by widespread tradition, at various places. This generally includes the first word of the prayer, at each ''Amen'', at ''Yitbarakh'', at ''Brikh hu'', and for the last verse ''Oseh shalom''. For ''Oseh shalom'' it is customary to take three steps back then bow to one's left, then to one's right, and finally bow forward, as if taking leave of the presence of a king, in the same way as when the same words are used as the concluding line of the Amidah.<ref>H.D. Assaf, ''Kaddish: Its origins, meanings and laws'' (Maimonides Research Inst., Haifa, 1966) 2003 English ed. pages 228–233; M. Nulman, ''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer '' (Aronson, NJ, 1993) page 186.</ref>

According to the original Ashkenazic custom, as well as the Yemenite custom, one mourner recites each Kaddish, and the Halachic authorities set down extensive rules to determine who has priority for each kaddish.<ref>Shulchan Aruch YD 276:4</ref> Most (but not all) Ashkenazic communities have adopted the Sephardic custom to allow multiple mourners to recite Kaddish together.

=== Minyan requirement ===

[[Soferim (Talmud)|''Masekhet Soferim'']], an eighth-century compilation of Jewish laws regarding the preparation of holy books and public reading, states in 10:7 that Kaddish may be recited only in the presence of a [[minyan]] - a quorum of ten.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Blumenthal|first1=David|title=Kaddish|url=http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/Kaddish.html|publisher=Emory University|access-date=22 December 2015|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415185506/http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/Kaddish.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The traditional view is that "If ''kaddish'' is said in private, then by definition it is not ''kaddish'',"<ref>{{cite web|title=Kaddish Without A Minyan|url=http://www.ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/210/Q1/|website=Ohr Somayach: Ask the Rabbi|access-date=22 December 2015|archive-date=23 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223071930/http://www.ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/210/Q1/|url-status=live}}</ref>. 
However some alternatives have been suggested, including the ''Kaddish l'yachid'' "Kaddish for an individual",<ref>{{cite web|author1=Amram Gaon|author-link1=Amram Gaon|title=Kaddish L'yachid|url=https://rebpam.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kaddish-L-yachid-from-the-Siddur-of-Amram-Gaon.pdf|access-date=22 December 2015|language=he|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125710/https://rebpam.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Kaddish-L-yachid-from-the-Siddur-of-Amram-Gaon.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> attributed to the ninth-century [[Amram Gaon]],<ref>{{cite web|last1=Frydman|first1=Pamela|title=Mourner's Prayer without a minyan|url=https://rebpam.com/prayers/kaddish-lyachid/|website=Rabbi Pamela Frydman|access-date=22 December 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113741/https://rebpam.com/prayers/kaddish-lyachid/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the use of [[kavanah]] prayer, asking heavenly beings to join with the individual "to make a minyan of both Earth and heaven".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Dosick|first1=Wayne|title=For the Solitary Mourner: A Prayer of Godly Praise|url=http://forward.com/articles/8079/for-the-solitary-mourner-a-prayer-of-godly-praise/|access-date=22 December 2015|work=[[The Forward]]|date=September 5, 2003|archive-date=23 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223080658/http://forward.com/articles/8079/for-the-solitary-mourner-a-prayer-of-godly-praise/|url-status=live}}</ref> In some Reform congregations, a minyan is not required for recitation of the Kaddish, but other Reform congregations disagree and believe that the Kaddish should be said publicly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kaddish-denominational-differences/|title=Kaddish: Denominational Differences|website=My Jewish Learning|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-28|archive-date=2019-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228192412/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kaddish-denominational-differences/|url-status=live}}</ref>