The Mourner’s Kaddish “originated in a startlingly different theological landscape—one in which concern with post-mortem suffering and the responsibility of the living for the dead loomed large in belief and practice alike”

Whether the Mourner’s Kaddish was an overt response to the “Birth of Purgatory,” or whether both developments reflected broader, underlying tectonic shifts, it seems undeniable that the prayer that today functions as a means of commemorating the dead and reconciling oneself to God’s inscrutable decisions originated in a startlingly different theological landscape—one in which concern with post-mortem suffering and the responsibility of the living for the dead loomed large in belief and practice alike.

David Shyovitz, “The Subversive Kaddish”, TheTorah.com (4 May 2016) [https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-subversive-kaddish]