Kaddish

Today would have been our grandfather's 96th Birthday. 

We chronicled his death here, here, and here. 

This was our first trip back to the cemetery.  For personal reasons we had vowed to never return. Normally Mark Stroock III would have gone but he was unable to.

There's a torrential downpour in the northeast today, so that fit the mood.

When a Jew, even a bad one like ourselves, visits the cemetery he says Kaddish, the Hebrew prayer for the dead. It's the second to last thing one can do for someone.

Mrs. Stroock and oldest daughter know Kaddish  by heart. This being 2018 we looked it up on our phone and read it over our grandfather's grave marker. The last time we said Kaddish for Mark Stroock II he had been dead about 20 minutes.

Here's an explanation, from the Chef Rabbi of Great Britain.