Chabad launches online Kaddish service for quarantined mourners

In the Jewish tradition, the 'Kaddish' is recited during a prayer with ten members or more. Thanks to the new service, those who can not leave home may honor the memory of their loved ones from home.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A Jewish worshipper wears Tefillin as he prays at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City March 8, 2012. Tefillin, leather straps and boxes containing sacred parchments, are worn by Orthodox Jewish men during morning prayer (photo credit: BAZ RATNER/REUTERS)
A Jewish worshipper wears Tefillin as he prays at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City March 8, 2012. Tefillin, leather straps and boxes containing sacred parchments, are worn by Orthodox Jewish men during morning prayer
(photo credit: BAZ RATNER/REUTERS)

The coronavirus pandemic has not been kind to the world's major Religions. It has led Rome to close down its Catholic Churches, the Kaaba in Mecca to virtually be without worshippers, and the Chief Rabbi of Israel to warn people to refrain from praying at the Western Wall.  


To help ensure the virus doesn't spread in such rapid numbers that it leads to a breakdown of health services, Chabad released an online service which allows people to stay at home even during the year of mourning, when it is customary to recite Kaddish for the departed in the company of other Jews everyday.

By filling an onlline form, mourners can ensure volunteers will recite the prayer for them in the company of ten worshipers, making it a minyan.  

On a lighter note, Chabad also offers a variety of easy to make Shabbat foods for people who usually enjoy the meal of the holy day of rest with friends or family.