Kaddish

How important is Kaddish! And how much do the deceased expect it from their children!

It is show in following story shows: A widow who did not have much money, was looking for people in her city who had died and who had no relatives to say Kaddish for them. She then paid a bahour of the Yeshiva to say this important prayer throughout the year of mourning.

One day, she saw that someone who came from afar was buried, he had no family and no relatives  to say Kaddish for him. She then ran to the Yeshiva, and said to the Rosh Yeshiva, “I beg you, Rabbi! I do not have enough money to pay another bahur to say Kaddish (the widow had two old daughters to marry, but she could not marry them because it was necessary, at the time, that the girl’s family gives the young man a large dowry for the marriage to take place, and she was unable to afford it). Please, give me this Kaddish on credit, and I promise that in the year I will repay it! “. Seeing such dedication, the Rav replied, “You do not have to pay, we will do it for free.”

During the week, the widow heard knocking on her door. She opened, and saw an elderly man, with a big beard dressed all in white. He said to her: “I would like to give you a paper on which is written that you must get paid ten thousand rubles (a colossal sum at the time!). Tomorrow, you will go to the bank, and you will ask the director to pay you this money from me. ” The widow had a hard time believing what she had just heard: maybe it was a scam … But the next day she went to the bank and asked to speak to the director. It was politely explained to her that an interview with him was not so easy to get, and that an appointment was necessary. But as she insisted and added that the director had to give her ten thousand rubles, the tone began to rise … The cries alerted the director, who came out of his office. The widow asked to speak to him urgently, and the director suggested that she enter his office.

The widow told her that the day before, an elderly person had come to see her, and that she told him to go and see the bank manager, who would give him ten thousand rubles from him. But the more she went on in her story, the more the bank manager bloomed… At one point, he began to cry hotly, he said to her, “So it was you I was waiting for! “. The widow was very surprised, he begins to tell: “A week ago, my father appeared to me in a dream, and he said:” Yaacov! It’s been about three weeks that i have been waiting for your Kaddish, but you did not come to the Synagogue! An old lady took care of my case, and, thanks to her, I rise from step to step! She will come to your house, and I want you to give her a sum of money to reward her! “.

How much a Kaddish can give great satisfaction to the deceased!