Question:
About leading the funeral and saying Kaddish:
We had a funeral in a Kehila, and instead of the regular Rabbi they had an apprentice Rabbi Student , around 20 years old, leading the service, later came out that the youngster still had his parents , so he is not entitled to say Kadish. The mistake was admitted and will not repeat itself. The reason that student did it was that he knew the family of the Niftar closely.
Anyway; Two questions:
1. I heared in a Shiur that it is better for somebody who is more experienced and who said already kaddish to perform funerals then a youngster (if e.g. both are of course Yirei Shamoyim and sing nicely)
2.In a general way , Can somebody who never knew direct related loss (so never said Kaddish) say Kadish Derabonan or at Yom Hashoah for example? or lead funerals?
Isn’t it better to wait until he is ordained as a Rov?
Thank you
Lichevod HaTorah
A.Twersky
Answer:
- For practical reasons, it is better to have someone who is older and experienced, to lead the funeral. There is also another issue that a person that his parents should not say kaddish unless he has permission.
- Essentially it is better that a person that a relative of the niftar say the kaddish, however unfortunately there are many times that there aren’t any relatives at the funeral, that can say the kaddis, then the kaddish should be said by someone else, even if they are not a relative. Techinically, a person does have to be an ordained Rov in order to say the Kaddish or officiate at the funeral, however practically if the person is ordained he will have more knowledge in order to ensure that no mistakes happen.
