by Rabbi Koval
It was a very sad funeral. He was a Holocaust survivor, never married, with no living relatives, and no money to pay for a real funeral. It was the second coldest day of the year, so it was not a prolonged ceremony, with barely a minyan at the graveside.
Kaddish was recited at the end of the service by the officiating rabbi. However, at a funeral (burial actually) a unique Kaddish is recited, not the usual Mourner's Kaddish. This is a Kaddish where we affirm our belief in the eternity of the soul, and in the belief that sometime in the future there will be a Messianic, "happily ever after" phase in our world. (To learn more about this phase, check out the final few principles in "Maimonides' 13 Jewish Principles of Faith.")
What's ironic is that this form of Kaddish is recited only at one other type of occasion: a Siyum, a celebration for the completion of an entire book of the Torah. Doubly-ironic, I had celebrated a Siyum that very same morning, as our JFX men have completed the entire second book of the Torah in our Tuesday morning class. It took us several years to complete, and was a tremendous accomplishment!
The juxtaposition of these two events, each one associated with the unique Kaddish describing the eternity of the soul, got me thinking about their connection...
Here's an UNBELIEVABLE story (which we talked about at our Siyum that morning) that bridges these worlds, the world of Torah and the world of eternity:
Hadrian's Wall is a popular tourist site in Northern England, especially for people interested in world history. It consists of the remnant stones built, as a defensive fortification in Roman Britain, in the year 122, during the rule of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Some time ago, an international group of reporters gathered at this site and wrote up articles in prominent historical periodicals and magazines about the history of this site.
One of the reporters was Jewish and wanted to recite Kaddish in memory of his father, whose Yahrtzeit happen to fall out during that trip. This was pre-Google, so he desperately looked around for the closest Minyan, and discovered one in a Yeshivah (rabbinical school) in the nearby town of Gateshead. He walked into the Yeshivah and was totally blown away by the energy of hundreds of rabbinical students studying, singing and debating Talmudic law.
The students happened to be discussing a passage attributed to the great Rabbi Akiva, and the buzz of "What did Rabbi Akiva mean by this?" and "How could Rabbi Akiva have said that?" filled the room. This is what the reporter wrote in his article on Hadrian's Wall: "I came to England to learn about the legacy of Hadrian, the great Roman Emperor. What did I discover? Stones. However, I discovered that Rabbi Akiva, who was killed by the very same Hadrian, for the crime of teaching Torah, lives on eternally. Through the teachings and study of the Torah, the Jewish people continue to perpetuate the life and legacy of Rabbi Akiva, as well as all of our great leaders and teachers throughout our history!"
By the way, this story was passed down to me and to a handful of JFX men who traveled to New York several years ago for our 2-day whirlwind "New York Yeshivah Tour." We had the privilege of spending time with one of world's greatest Torah sage, the leader of the largest Yeshivah in the world, in Lakewood, New Jersey, Rabbi Mattisyahu Soloman. He told us that he was a student in the Yeshivah of Gatehead when this story took place!
Guys, if you'd like to schedule another NY Yeshivah Tour, please reply to let me know. Together, we'll get a taste of eternity...!
