Question:
What is the attitude of CANRA on the communal recitation of Kaddish? The men attending services at one camp seem to object to the concerted communal recitation of Kaddish.
Answer:
If by communal reciting of the Kaddish is meant that the cantor or chaplain reads the Kaddish alone for the entire congregation, as is the custom in most Reform congregations, clearly this method of reading the Kaddish will not do when there are mourners present who want to say the Orphan's Kaddish individually.
An opportunity must be provided for mourners who so desire it to recite the Kaddish.
If, however, by communal reciting of the Kaddish is meant that the mourners are indeed allowed to say Kaddish but they are required to say it as a group in unison and the congregation responds 'Y'hay sh'meih rabba, etc.", this subject has received considerable discussion in rabbinic literature, chiefly in connection with the disputes between orphans or Yahrzeits as to who should have the privilege of saying Kaddish. Discussing the mourner's Kaddish Jacob Emden in his Siddur says:
"I will not go into the matter as to who should have the privilege of saying Kaddish, etc., for that is a matter of minhag; but how fine and praiseworthy is the custom of the Sephardim in this regard, namely, that if there are many who have to say Kaddish, they say it together and dispute is thus obviated."
Moses Sofer discusses the same subject in his Responsa (Chatham Sofer, Yore Deah 345). He quotes with approval the Sephardic custom mentioned by Jacob Emden and says that in fact in his school they do have the same thing with regard to Kaddish d'Rabbanan, namely, that the orphans say it all together, and he adds and what harm is there in it (mah b'chach).
There is also a still more recent responsum on this subject by Markhus Horovitz, the Orthodox rabbi of Frankfurt in the first half of the 19th century (Matteh Levi II, #3). He said that he accepted this custom of saying Kaddish in unison (although he did not prefer it) because it is an ancient custom in Frankfurt according to the old Frankfurt minhag.
We may conclude that while opportunities for a minyan for any mourner shall be provided whenever possible on his Yahrzeit nevertheless at the regular public service in the army and navy the mourners be asked to recite the Kaddish in unison in accordance with the customs as recorded above.