A Daughter's Kaddish recounts Sarah Birnbach's year-long odyssey to persevere through an unfamiliar world of Jewish prayer. To honor her beloved father, Sarah commits to reciting the Mourner's Kaddish twice a day in synagogue for eleven months-a Jewish mourning ritual that was historically reserved for sons-despite her father's initial request that she hire someone male to do so. A novice worshipper and single working mother, Sarah encountered many obstacles-including gender-based objections to her prayer practice, her own daughter's near-fatal car accident, an incident that tore her synagogue apart, and her mother's dismissiveness.
Read more