Women and the Recitation of Kaddish by Rahel Berkovits – A Review Essay (Hebrew with English Synopsis) by Yael Levine

Rahel Berkovits has written a work about the recitation of kaddish by daughters and women generally. The main texts appear in Hebrew alongside an English translation. The publication was issued by JOFA.

The topic itself is of notable interest, and Berkovits attempts to deal with the issues at hand. Her main purpose is to show that the recitation of kaddish by women is permissible, and that this is the opinion of the American rabbis (“Rabbanei Artzot Ha-Brit”).

However, essential problems may be detected with the analysis presented in this work. Even if there is a basis for the opinions permitting women to recite kaddish, the author does not provide an objective discussion of the sources. She shows a clear preference towards those sources which permit women to recite kaddish, and belittles the opposing sources. Berkovits mainly presents those opinions which permit women to recite kaddish, and writes that these opinions are the majority opinion (p. 85). However, this assertion is incorrect. There is a large pool of sources on the topic, to which the author preferred not to relate.

The first and classic responsum on the topic was written by R. Yair Hayyim Bacharach in Havvot Yair. The author based herself on the text in the Bar Ilan responsa project, which contains several corruptions, and didn’t corroborate the text with the book itself. There is an overt mistake concerning her discussion of “Sefer Ha-Hayyim”, and other mistakes are prevalent within the publication. Berkowits failed to list among the early sources two important texts. This work by Berkovits was not worthy of publication in its present state, not even for the use of women. Women also have the right to publish Divrei Torah, but Divrei Torah that are devoid of any error.