Week of Parshat Chukat-Balak
July 11, 2003

Kaddish IV

The next phrase in the Kaddish is “Bechayachon uvyomaychon uvchayeh dechol Beit Yisroel – In your lifetime and in your days; and in the lifespan of the entire Jewish people.

At first glance it seems a bit repetitive - “In your life, your days, for you and all Jews…..?” The commentators explain that the three expressions represent different hopes and prayers for the final redemption.

“Bechayachon – in your lifetime” is referring to the minyan / fellow congregation that is joining you in your Tefilla. The opportunity to pray with a Minyan / Quorum is mentioned and praised throughout the Talmud. It is therefore appropriate to mention ones fellow Jews that are joining him and enabling him to say the Kaddish.

“Uvyomaychon – in your days” – implies the urgency and immediacy of the need for G-dliness on this earth. One need not be a political scientist or sociologist to recognize how far gone we have drifted. Whether it be societal amorality, global terrorism, gang wars, and/or the continuous cry for spirituality –Uvyomaychon – let the Redemption come now.

Uvchayeh dechol beit Yisroel – in the lifespan of the entire Jewish people – is a prayer for the entire Jewish nation. We are the oldest and strongest people on the planet. No matter how pious one Jew is –as part of a Minyan he is elevated. What about a whole shul? And a whole community? A whole city, state, country, continent,…….? What about the entire Jewish people? What about not just those alive today but those who built the Jewish people for the last 5000 years to get where we are today?
Uvchayeh dechol beit yisroel – we pray on behalf of and in the merit of the collective and universal Jewish nation.

Everyone needs to realize what an important role he/she plays in G-d’s world. Each of us is an individual, a family member, a community member, and a member of the entire Jewish people. What each of us does is of lasting import and affects everyone else in the world. Therefore at the moment of declaring and emphasizing G-d’s greatness and grandeur in the Kaddish we mention not only ourselves, but our communities and the entire Jewish nation as well.

May the prayers of the Kaddish be answered soon; and may we Zion comforted and the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Ephraim Epstein
rabbiepstein@sonsisrael.com

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