Memorial Prayer When there is no Minyan for saying Kaddish

תפילת הזכרת הורים כשאין מניין לאמירת קדיש

Kaddish Without a Minyan according to Rabbi Joseph Nobel

Memorial Prayer For When There is No Minyan

אָֽנָּא יְיָ מֶֽלֶךְ רַחֲמִים, אֵל אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחוֹת לְכׇל־בָּשָׂר, אֲבִי יְתוֹמִים וְדַיַּן^[1] אַלְמָנוֹת אֱלֹהִים בִּמְעוֹן קׇדְשֶֽׁךָ! תָּבֹא לְפָנֶֽיךָ תְּפִלָּתִי וְתוֹרַת חַיִּים שֶׁלָּמַדְתִּי בַּעֲבוּר נִשְׁמַת

 

להזכרת אב: אָבִי מוֹרִי         (שם האב)         הַנּוֹלַד מִן       (שם אביו)        שֶׁהָלָךְ לְעוֹלָמוֹ

 

להזכרת אם: אִמִּי מוֹרָתִי         (שם האם)         הַנּוֹלֶֽדֶת מִן        (שם אביה)        שֶׁהָלְכָה לְעוֹלָמָהּ

 

כולם ממשיכים: וּבַאֲשֶׁר שֶׁלֹּא אוּכַל לְכַבֵּד זִכְרוֹן

 

להזכרת אב:              (שם האב)            נִשְׁמָתוֹ

 

להזכרת אם:              (שם האם)            נִשְׁמָתָהּ

 

כולם ממשיכים: בַּאֲמִירַת קַדִּישׁ בְּצִבּוּר^[2] אַתָּה יְיָ הָרוֹאֶה לַלֵּבָב תְּצַדֵּף^[3] מַחֲשָׁבָה טוֹבָה לְמַעֲשֶׂה וְהָיְתָה נֶֽפֶשׁ

 

להזכרת אב: אָבִי מוֹרִי              (שם האב)            נִשְׁמָתוֹ

 

להזכרת אם: אִמִּי מוֹרָתִי              (שם האם)            נִשְׁמָתָהּ

 

כולם ממשיכים: צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים בְּגַן עֵֽדֶן עִם כׇּל־שְׁאָר צַדִּיקִים וְצַדִּיקוֹת^[4] חֲסִידִים^[5] וַחֲסִידוֹת^[6] הַחוֹסִים בְּצֵל כְּנָפֶֽיךָ אָמֵן וְאָמֵן:

 

Please Lord, Sovereign of Compassion, God, Arbiter of the spirits of all flesh, Parent of Orphans and Judge of widows: God, from the source of Your holiness! May my prayer and the Torah of life that I have learned come before you on account of the soul         (parent’s name)        born of        (grandparent’s name)      , who has gone on to her/his world. As I cannot honor the memory of        (parent’s name)     ’s soul by saying a communal Kaddish, You God who examines hearts, may You link good thinking to such action, and may the spirit of my         (relation)         , my teacher,       (parent’s name)     ’s soul be bound in the bond of life in the Garden of Eden, along with all other righteous and pious people, sheltered beneath the shade of Your wings. Amen, and amen.

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[1]   Note that in Sefer Totza’ot HaHayyim (after some passages of Torah study; p. 111), Rabbi Joseph Nobel spells this word with the final vowel being a kamatz ( ָ  ), rather than a patah ( ַ  ); however, because the word dayyan (דַּיָּן) here is in semikhut (סְמִיכוּת, “subordination”) form (the grammatical form where the noun preceding the next noun—without the use of a preposition or any word inbetween—acts subordinately in relation to the following word), the grammatically correct vocalization is as written in the version of the text here, with a patah.

[2]   In Nobel’s version, this word is spelled inconsistently with standard Hebrew grammatical laws: בְּצִיבּוֹר. The above text has incorporated this correction.

[3]   This word is likely a mistake for either תְּצַדֵּק (“justify”) or תְּצָרֵף (“link”). The translation here follows the latter interpretation.

[4]   This term, referring to “righteous women,” is technically already subsumed under the previous word צַדִּיקים (tzaddikim), “righteous people.” Some may choose to omit the word וְצַדִּיקוֹת (vetzaddikot).

[5]   In Nobel’s printing, there is a dagesh in the dalet of hasidim, thusly spelled incorrectly: חֲסִידִּים.

[6]   This term, referring to “pious women,” is technically already subsumed under the previous word חֲסִידִים (hasidim), “righteous people.” Some may choose to omit the word וַחֲסִידוֹת (vahasidot).

 

 

Many thanks to Rabbi Tzvi Graetz for calling the original source to the attention of mine and other Facebook users.