Why Are We Here? On the Origins and Purpose of Kaddish Yatom

May your great Name be made holier and greater, in this world that ha-Shem is destined to renew and to give life to the dead and raise them to eternal life, to build the city of Yerushalayim, and complete the Beis HaMikdosh in its midst, and to uproot idol worship from the Land, return the service of the Heaven to its place, and the Holy One of Blessing shall rule in majesty and splendor in our lives (and salvation sprout and bring near the Mashicha), and in the lifetime of the entire household of Israel, swiftly and in the near future; and say, Amen.

(c. 1450) Question #294: One whose parents had died in Adar, during a non-leap year; when a leap arrives, in which Adar should they fast, and say kaddish and Bar'chu? Adar A or Adar B?

(c. 1300) כפר לעמך, “grant atonement for Your people.” According to Pessikta (and Sifri) on our verse the word כפר refers to the living who can attain atonement by means of their money. The words פדית, “whom You redeemed,” refer to the already dead who will achieve their atonement by charity given by the living (in their name). The verse teaches that the donations made to the Temple treasury by the living on behalf of their dead accomplish something. This is so in an increased measure if the son donates in his father’s name; it is considered a merit for the departed father. The same applies to the recital of Kaddish by the son for his father. The concept is based on the fact that the son “eats” the “fruits” of his father. The same applies to the son acting as reader in the synagogue during his year of mourning. There is a Baraitha in Massechet Kallah Rabbati chapter 2 involving Rabbi Akiva rescuing the soul of a departed from purgatory through the son becoming pious, etc., although the father of that child had been the worst kind of sinner.

c. 1200

[The Mishnaic sage] Abba Shaul ben Botnit once asked a particular Jewish man to teach his son to say Kaddish....There was a pious member of the community who would say Kaddish for the dead, and it was exceedingly difficult to teach the kaddish to that son of the dead man. The pious man, who would say kaddish, said to him, [nonetheless] it is a mitzvah for the son of the dead man to learn kaddish and to say kaddish [like the pious man].

Simcha of Vitry, 11th century (this addendum prob. R. Isaac b Dorbelo, 12th c)

The story is told of Rabbi Akiva who was walking in a cemetery and came across a naked man who was dark as coal and carrying a huge load of sticks on his head. Thinking that he was alive, Rabbi Akiva asked how he had gotten into the situation of needing to do such difficult work, and offering to go to any means necessary to redeem him. The man asked Rabbi Akiva to get out of his way. "What's the story here", asked Rabbi Akiva. "I'm actually dead", the man replied, "and every day they send me to cut down trees." "What was your job when you were alive", Rabbi Akiva asked. "I was a tax collector", the man replied, "and I would favor the wealthy and kill the poor." Rabbi Akiva asked him, “Haven’t you heard anything from those appointed to punish you about how you might be relieved?” “I did hear from [those appointed over me] one impossible thing", he replied. "They told me the only way to get out of this situation is if I had a son who stood up in the minyan and declared 'Barchu et Hashem Hamevorach', and they answer after him, 'Yehei Shmei Rabah Mevorach'. If that were to happen, I would immediately be released from this punishment. I didn't have a son, but I left behind a pregnant wife. I don't know if she gave birth to a son. If she did give birth to a son, who would possibly teach this son Torah, since nobody in the world liked me?" Immediately, Rabbi Akiva decided that he would go search and see if the man did in fact have a son who he could teach Torah and teach to lead prayers. Rabbi Akiva asked the man who was being punished, "What's your name?", and the man answered, "Akiva". He asked him, "What's your wife's name?", and he answered "Shoshbina". He asked "Where are you from?", and the man responded, "Ludkia." Immediately Rabbi Akiva put himself through great difficulty to find the man's family. When he made it to the town, he asked about the man. "May that man's bones erode", the people responded. He asked about the man's wife. "May her memory be wiped out for all time", they said. He asked about the child. They responded, "He isn't even circumcised". Rabbi Akiva immediately circumcised the boy. Rabbi Akiva put a book in front of the boy, but the boy couldn't learn anything until Rabbi Akiva fasted for 40 days. A heavenly voice emerged, asked, "You're fasting on behalf of this kid?" Rabbi Akiva responded, "Master of the Universe, have I not prepared him before you?" Immediately, God opened up the boy's heart, and he was able to learn Torah, the Shema and Birkat Hamazon (the grace after meals). Rabbi Akiva stood him up in front of the community to recite Barchu, and they recited, "Baruch Hashem Hamevorach". Immediately, they released the boy's father from his punishment. Immediately, the boy's father came to Rabbi Akiva in a dream, saying to him, "May it be God's will that you rest for all time in the Garden of Eden, for you saved me from the punishment of Gehennom." Rabbi Akiva responded with a verse from Psalms, "God's name is forever, God's memory passes from generation to generation." Therefore, the custom developed for someone who doesn't have a father or mother to say Barchu or Kaddish on Motzei Shabbat [when the souls of those in Gehennom, who have been in temporary reprieve for Shabbat, are returning to Gehennom, and when it was already a French medieval custom for a minor to lead the prayers].

(Sefaria Community Translation)

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, anyone who answers: "Amen, may His great name be blessed -- yihei shmei raba m'vorach" with all their might, they tear up his sentence, as it is stated: “When punishments are annulled in Israel, when the people offer themselves, bless the Lord” (Judges 5:2). What is the reason for when punishments are annulled? Because they "Barchu ha-Shem" (i.e. they blessed God).

(16) because the wise, just like the foolish, are not remembered forever; for, as the succeeding days roll by, both are forgotten. Alas, the wise die, just like the foolish! (17) And so I loathed life. For I was distressed by all that goes on under the sun, because everything is futile and pursuit of wind.