Kaddish With No Minyan

Shalom Rabbi, I am in a bible study group, and this question was raised: Let say a kadish needs to be said, of a death if a soldier in Ukraine. This unit consisted of 12 Jewish soldiers, and 5 died. Actually not from a war, but a car accident. There are only 7 left and they wanted to say kadish. But not enough for mynian. There is no possibility to bring any other Jews for the minyan. Will the sould of the deceased not benefit? Except for some texts in the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch, i cannot find many details. What is your take on this?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

Kaddish may only be recited in the presence of a “minyan” – ten adult Jewish males.

However, there are other things you can do in honor of the deceased when there is no minyan. For example, studying Torah together especially Mishna, is very beneficial for the soul of the deceased.

Rabbi Yosef Hahn of Frankfurt (1570-1637) wrote in his famous work, Yosef Ometz, that reciting kaddish and the like is good for the soul of the departed but to lead the prayer service is even better. But “but Torah study is seven times more useful than leading the prayer service, and with it one causes the deceased to enter Gan Eden”.

Similarly, in the words of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (26:22), “even though reciting the Kaddish and the prayers are beneficial for the deceased, nevertheless, they are not the essence. Rather, the essence is that the children should go on a straight path, for in that way they bring merit to parents… and a person should command his children to perform a certain mitzva, and if they fulfill that mitzvah, it is considered more worthy than the kaddish.”

So while you are right that the recitation of kaddish with a minyan is important, we see clearly that there are other things that one can do for soul of the deceased. Do not despair. Study Torah together, pray together, do mitzvot together, and may all the merits generated in honor of your Jewish friends serve them well in heaven.