Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Karasi Ve’ein Oneh

January 29, 2026

Q Our minyan typically has ten or eleven men, of which seven are currently saying Kaddish. Is it a problem that so few are answering?

A Some shuls have the minhag that only one person says Kaddish, even if several have a chiyuv. (Biur Halacha 132:1 seems to support this.) The Chazon Ish (cited in Piskei Teshuvos 132 n. 106) held this view, arguing that there can be only one shliach tzibur, even for Kaddish. But the prevailing minhag today is to allow multiple people to say Kaddish at once (Chayei Adam 30:7).

Kaddish is a davar shebikdushah, which requires ten men (O.C. 52:1). Lechat’chilah, the ten should be participating in Kaddish and not busy with something else like davening Shmoneh Esrei. In a small minyan, many poskim permit Kaddish to be said even if some are davening, as long as at least five others are listening to the one saying Kaddish (Aruch Hashulchan 55:13). When multiple people say Kaddish, all are counted among the ten.

The Ben Ish Chai (Rav Pa’alim 2:14) addresses a community where everyone was saying Kaddish and concludes that it is not a problem. And although the text of Kaddish repeatedly asks others to say amein (“ve’imru amein”), if everyone is saying Kaddish, that directive is addressed to anyone that might be passing by. Alternatively, he suggests, it addresses the malachim that escort people or those that are in shul to carry the tfilos to Shamayim. (He points out that the ve’imru amein at the end of the silent Shmoneh Esrei also has no human responder, so it must be directed at malachim.)

The Minchas Yitzchak (4:30) addresses a case where an entire minyan had yahrzeit on the same day, shortly after the Holocaust. He says they may all recite Kaddish in unison, but it is best to have at least two people present to answer, because of the kabalah reasons cited in Sefer Asarah Ma’amaros (quoted in Machatzis Hashekel 6:9).