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Mourner's Prayer and Shema |
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On the day the Columbia space shuttle went down I went out on
Toledo Bend Lake in Hemphill, TX and recited the Mourner's Prayer and
Shema.
Here's why:
All over the world, everyday...Jews and Messianic Jews start their
day and end it with the 'Shema'
(Shema means 'Hear/listen') It goes like this from Deuteronomy 6:4:
"Shema, Yisrael, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai
Echad."
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one
Lord."
  
So, I went to the lake out on a pier and bowed to the North,
South, East, and West and sang the Shema...
plus I added this:
"Baruch Shem kavod, Malchuto le olam va-ed."
"Blessed is the Name and glorious
kingdom forever and ever."
"Adonai, Adonai, Yeshua HaMashiach hoo
Adonai
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheynu,
Yeshua HaMashicah hoo Adonai."
"Lord, Lord, Jesus the Messiah, He is Lord.
Blessed are You Lord God, Jesus the Messiah
(He is/You are) Lord."
Next, I recited the 'Mourner's
Kaddish' (Mourner's Prayer)
which has to be done within 24 hours. It was read in
Hebrew then English.
"Magnified and sanctified be God's great name in the world which He has created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom soon, in our lifetime. Let us say: Amen. "May His great name be praised to all eternity. "Hallowed and honored, extolled and exalted, adored and acclaimed be the name of the Holy One, though He is above all the praises, hymns, and songs of adoration which men can utter. Let us say: Amen. "May God grant abundant peace and life to us and to all Israel. Let us say: Amen. "May He who ordains harmony in the universe grant peace to us and to all Israel. Let us say: Amen." The prayer itself is not a blessing over the dead but a blessing of God's Name for His protection and sustaining protection. The prayer itself simply asks that God' peace would rule in every situation. The Meaning of KADDISH Having read the translation of the Kaddish Prayer, one should realize that, although Jewish Law requires that the Kaddish be recited during the first eleven months following the death of a loved one by prescribed mourners, and on each anniversary of the death (the "Yahrtzeit"), and by custom in the State of Israel by all Jews on the Tenth of Tevet ("Yom HaKaddish HaKlali"), there is no reference, no word even, about death in the prayer. The theme of Kaddish is, rather, the Greatness of God, Who conducts the entire universe and especially His most favored creature, each individual human being, with careful supervision. In this prayer, we also pray for peace - from apparently the only One Who can guarantee it - peace between nations, peace between individuals, and peace of mind. Contrary to popular beliefs, this is, in fact, the only true comfort in the case of the loss of a loved one. That is, to be able to view the passing of the beloved individual from the perspective that the person's soul was gathered in, so to speak, by the One Who had provided it in the first place. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord."
In His service, bj
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