Description

A woman breaks with Jewish tradition to honor her late father in this moving memoir of faith, grief, and transformation.

A Daughter's Kaddish recounts Sarah Birnbach's year-long odyssey to persevere through an unfamiliar world of Jewish prayer and chart a course without a road map. A novice worshipper and single working mother, Sarah encountered many obstacles--including vehement objections to her recitation of the Mourner's Kaddish because of her gender, her own daughter's near-fatal car accident, an incident that tore her synagogue apart, and her mother's hostility and dismissiveness.

To honor her beloved father, Sarah commits to saying Kaddish twice a day in synagogue for eleven months, as is stipulated by her religion. Sarah attempts to incorporate these new religious and spiritual practices into her already hectic twenty-first-century life while struggling with the heavy emotional distress of grief. As she travels the country for work, Sarah must find a synagogue where she can pray in each city and town she visits, a challenge that brings many surprises--and upsets. Throughout her year of devotion, Sarah takes comfort in the loving memories of her childhood while at the same time grappling with some very painful ones--ultimately discovering how the path of faith and grief can lead to true healing.