Funeral reading
Mourner's Kaddish
Traditional, Aramaic
“Mourner's Kaddish” by Traditional, Aramaic is a prayer read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about a minute and a half read aloud, usually by everyone together. It is in the public domain but too long to print in a ceremony script, so this page points at a full text rather than reproducing one.
Why the words are not printed here
The text is public domain and printed in every siddur, but we do not set it here: it is recited in Aramaic by the mourners, traditionally requires a minyan of ten, and the transliteration a family uses is their community’s. Ask the funeral home for transliteration cards, and ask a rabbi or cantor to lead it.
Pieces still in copyright are listed by title and author only — we name them and tell you where to get them, but we do not reproduce the words. Public-domain text is printed in your script in full.
What it is about
Led by the mourners, needs a minyan. Not yours to lead — arrange it.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: kaddish · praise not grief · the mourners · minyan.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Mourner's Kaddish” take to read aloud?
“Mourner's Kaddish” takes about a minute and a half read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Mourner's Kaddish”?
Everyone together, rather than one reader. “Mourner's Kaddish” runs about a minute and a half and needs the words in front of the room — in an order of service, on a screen, or led line by line by the officiant.
Can “Mourner's Kaddish” be printed in a ceremony script?
Not in full here. The text is public domain and printed in every siddur, but we do not set it here: it is recited in Aramaic by the mourners, traditionally requires a minyan of ten, and the transliteration a family uses is their community’s. Ask the funeral home for transliteration cards, and ask a rabbi or cantor to lead it.
Can a friend or family member lead “Mourner's Kaddish”?
Traditionally requires a minyan of ten adults, and is recited by the mourners rather than by whoever is leading. This is not a lay officiant’s to lead. Confirm with the family’s rabbi, cantor, or the Jewish funeral home.
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- El Malei Rachamima minute and a halfTraditional memorial prayer
- The Lord's Prayer40 secondsMatthew 6, King James Bible
- Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace50 secondsAttributed to St Francis of Assisi
- Words of Committal (Book of Common Prayer, 1662) — short form20 secondsBook of Common Prayer
- In the Midst of Life (Book of Common Prayer, 1662)30 secondsBook of Common Prayer
- Eternal Rest (Requiem aeternam)10 secondsTraditional Catholic prayer