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Kaddish
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Kaddish Paperback - 2000 - 1st Edition

by Leon Wieseltier

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An extraordinary spiritual journal: a record of the inner life of one of America's most brilliant intellectuals during a year of mourning. "Kaddish" is a work of history, philosophy, and interior autobiography, of moral force and emotional power.

Summary

Winner of the 1998 National Jewish Book Award"An astonishing fusion of learning and psychic intensity; its poignance and lucidity should be an authentic benefit to readers, Jewish and gentile." --The New York Times Book ReviewChildren have obligations to their parents: the Talmud says "one must honor him in life and one must honor him in death." Leon Wieseltier, a diligent but doubting son, recites the Jewish prayer of mourning at his father's grave, and then embarks on the traditional year of saying the kaddish daily.Wieseltier's highly acclaimed Kaddish is the spiritual and thoughtful journal of one of America's most brilliant intellectuals. Driven to explore th origins of the kaddish, from the ancient legend of a wayeard ghost to a 17th-century Ukranian pogrom, he offers as well a mourner's response to the questions of fate, freedom, and faith stirred up in death's wake. Lyric, learned, and deeply moving, Kaddish>/b> is suffused with love: a son's embracing of the traditon bequethed to him by his father, a scholar's savoring of its beauty, and a writer's revealing it, proudly unadorned, to the reader. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Reader reviews for Kaddish

From the publisher

A National Jewish Book Award-winning autobiography that's "an astonishing fusion of learning and psychic intensity; its poignance and lucidity should be an authentic benefit to readers, Jewish and gentile" (The New York Times Book Review).

Children have obligations to their parents: the Talmud says "one must honor him in life and one must honor him in death." Beside his father's grave, a diligent but doubting son begins the mourner's kaddish and realizes he needs to know more about the prayer issuing from his lips. So begins Leon Wieseltier's National Jewish Book Award-winning autobiography, Kaddish, the spiritual journal of a man commanded by Jewish law to recite a prayer three times daily for a year and driven, by ardor of inquiry, to explore its origins. Here is one man's urgent exploration of Jewish liturgy and law, from the 10th-century legend of a wayward ghost to the speculations of medieval scholars on the grief of God to the perplexities of a modern rabbi in the Kovno ghetto. Here too is a mourner's unmannered response to the questions of fate, freedom, and faith stirred in death's wake. Lyric, learned, and deeply moving, Wieseltier's Kaddish is a narrative suffused with love: a son's embracing the tradition bequeathed to him by his father, a scholar's savoring they beauty he was taught to uncover, and a writer's revealing it, proudly, unadorned, to the reader.

First line

Everything struck hard.

From the rear cover

Everything struck hard. The door slamming behind me in the black car. The shovel stabbing the mound of soil. The wooden box hitting the floor of the pit.

Beside his father's grave, a diligent but doubting son begins the mourner's kaddish, and realizes he needs to know more about the prayer issuing from his lips. So begins Leon Wieseltier's highly acclaimend Kaddish, the spiritual journal of a man commanded by Jewish law to recite a prayer three times daily for a year and driven, by the ardor of inquiry, to explore its origins. Here is one man's urgent exploration of Jewish lituragy and law, from the 10th-century legend of a wayward ghost to the speculations of medieval scholars on the grief of God to the perplexities of a modern rabbi in the Kovno ghetto. Here too is a mourner's unmannered response to the questions of fate, freedom, and faith stirred in death's wake. Lyric, learned, and deeply moving, wieseltier's Kaddish is a narrative suffused with love: a son's embracing the tradition bequeathed to him by his father, a scholar's savoring the beauty he was taught to uncover, and a writer's revealing it, proudly unadorned, to the reader.

Details

  • Title Kaddish
  • Author Leon Wieseltier
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 608
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Vintage, New York
  • Publication date 2000-02-08
  • ISBN 9780375703621 / 0375703624
  • Weight 0.94 lbs (0.43 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.02 x 5.22 x 0.99 in (20.37 x 13.26 x 2.51 cm)
  • Themes
    • Ethnic Orientation: Jewish
    • Religious Orientation: Jewish
    • Topical: Death/Dying
  • Category Religion - Judaism
  • Library of Congress subjects Jewish mourning customs, Judaism - Liturgy
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 98015881
  • Dewey Decimal Code 296.445

Media reviews

"Extraordinary.... [Kaddish] is a fine book, no, more: It may well be destined to become an American Jewish classic." --Forward

"Read this extraordinary book and you will be both intellectually enriched and deeply moved.... [Wieseltier's] Kaddish is not only for his father; it is for all fathers for whom no kaddish has been said." --Elie Wiesel

"An extended meditation on life and death, faith and doubt, freedom and responsibility,  modernity and tradition, fathers and sons." --The Washington Post Book World

Citations

  • New York Times, 02/06/2000, Page 28
  • Publishers Weekly Best Books, 01/01/1998, Page 48

About the author

LEON WIESELTIER was born in Brooklyn in 1952. He is the literary editor of The New Republic. He has published several books, including A Passion for Waiting, Jewish Historiography, and Kaddish, winner of the 1998 National Jewish Book Award. He currently lives in Washington, D.C.

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Kaddish
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Kaddish

by Leon Wieseltier

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Kaddish
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Kaddish

by Wieseltier, Leon

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780375703621 / 0375703624
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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Very Good. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Kaddish
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Kaddish

by Wieseltier, Leon

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Kaddish
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Kaddish

by Wieseltier, Leon

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Description:
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Used - Very Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.
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Kaddish

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