The Baal Shem Tov, or Besht —  the founder of Chasidism — 
met the soul of the Messiah during an ascent to heaven. 
The Besht asked him, "When will the Master come?" 
The Messiah answered, "When your wellsprings break forth to the outside!" 
(from a letter written by the Besht to his brother-in-law about one of his soul ascents) 

Kaddish for a Human Minyan, in gratitude to the One, for all Creation

What does the kaddish really mean? What kaddish can I say when there's no minyan of Jewish people? What would a kaddish that focused on humanity's place in Creation be like?

When I was in Costa Rica after my mother died, I improvised a "secular" kaddish so that I could say kaddish under circumstances where I could gather ten people but not ten Jews. I continued to work on this kaddish when I got home. It became especially important at my boy's Jewish day school, where I could often get ten parents to stay after drop-off to help me say kaddish, but not all of those parents would be Jewish. The community felt so much stronger when everyone was included, it meant so much to the non-Jewish parents, and I found that people really loved it and got a lot out of it. In the world of zoom meetings during the COVID pandemic, this kaddish is also an option for anyone who halakhically does not feel right about doing the traditionally kaddish in a virtual minyan, and I often do it at the end of my online classes where we are studying eco-Torah.

You may find it useful in three ways:

1) As a kind of prayer for Creation, in the spirit of the our hope for the time when "all creatures become united in one band" to serve God, and also as an expression of a fully biocentric theology that is humane and humble.

2) As an alternative kaddish to do at any point in synagogue where people might benefit from something recited in English. As such this could be said in place of any of the kaddishes that get said in a service. Note that there are two lines in brackets that are meant for when this Kaddish is used in place of Kaddish Shalem (Kaddish Titkabeil) or Kaddish deRabanan.

3) As a way to honor and create community within a group of people who may be both Jewish and not Jewish -- especially when a mourner can find a minyan of ten friends but not ten Jews.

"Kaddish for a Human Minyan"

Mourners: May the Name that fills all names be blessed and strengthened in this created world. May the Breath of Life that fills all breaths fill us with Life, and may it guide and rule our actions and visions, in our lives and in our time, now in this world, and in every moment to come. And let us say: Amen.

Everyone: Amen. May that great Name be blessed within us and in all worlds, for all time.

Mourners: May Holiness stream forth from its Source, full of blessing and beauty. May the Name that weaves together all Life and all creatures be blessed and praised, made beautiful and resplendent, lifted up and exalted, to the highest and most majestic…

Everyone: Blessed be!

Mourners: …beyond all the praises and blessings and songs and prayers that can ever be said in the whole world. And let us say: Amen. Everyone: Amen.

Mourners: [May our prayers be received by the One who is our source, and] [May we be nourished and sustained along with everyone everywhere who seeks to understand this Name and this holiness.] May the Life and Love within us and between us be strengthened. May the Breath that fills all breaths fill all Creation with Peace, and may Peace and Life flow to us, to our community, to all peoples, and to all beings in this world. And let us say: Amen.

Everyone: Amen.

Mourners: The One who makes Peace in the furthest reaches of Creation will bring Peace to us and to all living beings. And let us say: Amen.

Everyone: Amen.

Like the original Kaddish, this Kaddish does not name God or use the word "God". Why doesn't the Kaddish point directly at "God"? This is an important question that can have many answers. For me, it hints at the nature of God's presence, interwoven with and within every being and between every being -- this is what led me to translate the Kaddish into English in the way that I have. Our desire to point to that presence is more of a language game than a real possibility, hence the Kaddish focuses on "the Name" rather than God, while still opening to a greater vision of what that name means.

Design in progress © Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg 2006