17 - Kaddish

Late that evening the Jews assembled in the great synagogue received the message of the account of the slaughter in the arena and of the fiery sacrifice at nightfall. The worshippers who’d been fasting and praying all day under Zadoc’s leadership now learned that the souls for which they’d been praying had departed in all purity, with forgiveness on their lips.

Zadoc rose and said, “My brothers in Israel, blessed is he that has drawn so many souls into the shelter of the divine wings.

“This is a great day for Israel. Many souls have been born to our father Abraham this day. God’s Name has been sanctified throughout the world, and it will be sanctified wherever the name of the martyrs is carried, from now on forevermore. Sanctified be all those who have perished in Him, and whether they be Jews or Gentiles, from this day forth, they are our brothers.

“Therefore let us rise and bless their memory. Let us say a great Kaddish for their souls to the one living God of Israel.”

Then the rabbi stood before the scrolls and cried out, “Judge of the world, Father of all living, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, accept the blood of your servants that has been poured out before You like water. It is for You alone that this sacrifice was made. Therefore let it be acceptable in Your sight. Assemble the martyred souls under the wings of Your glory and bind them in the bond of eternal life.

“Let not the blood of Your servants be shed in vain, but let it be a pillar of fire to be a guide to Your people in the wilderness, and let Your Name be spread in all the corners of the earth, so that every knee may come and bow before You, for Yours alone is the glory and the praise. Let all people make a bond to serve You in utter trust. Let Your justice be unfolded over the earth, so that evil may cease and the reign of Messiah begin, for we can wait no longer.

“Look on our pain and our wretchedness, have mercy on Your creatures, eternal God of Israel!”

The rabbi could no longer hold back the tears. His voice shook as he began to intone the Kaddish for the martyrs, “Magnified and sanctified be the Name of God.”

The whole congregation of widows, orphans, brothers, and sisters of the martyrs repeated the Kaddish in tears, “Magnified and sanctified be the Name of God.”

* * * * *

Late that night groups of Jews stole out of the pent alleys of the Trans-Tiber, carrying little oil lamps. Quietly they wound their way through the streets and open places and crossed the Janiculum to the Vaticanum. A few crosses still stood smoldering there, but most of them had fallen into ashes, and in the ashes lay the bones of the martyrs. The silent group went from cross to cross, gathering up the bones and wrapping them in cloth. The sleepy soldiers on the campus didn’t interfere, for the Jews were within their rights. In addition to the crosses, there was a great heap of garbage that had been carried out from the circus, and the Jews searched it for human remains. Carefully and lovingly they gathered up bodies, limbs, bloody fragments, and wrapped them in cloth.

When they’d collected everything that appeared to have belonged to a human body, they went in procession to the Jewish burial place, which was a cave far out in the Trans-Tiber. A great weeping broke out there. But the leaders of the Jewish community and the leaders of the new faith, who accompanied them in the task of giving Jewish burial to the remains of the martyrs, said that it wasn’t fitting at this moment to weep for the martyrs. It was fitting, rather, to sanctify the Name of God, even as the martyrs had done.

So the orphan sons were led forward and ranged about the large common grave, and the whole people accompanied them in the saying of the Kaddish.

“Magnified and sanctified be the Name of God.”