First Yahrtzeit — Ascension Revealed

We may now fathom the logic for saying Kaddish once again at the close of the 12 months. The recitation of Kaddish for 11 months was for the purpose of helping the soul rise from level to level. In continuation to those ascents we say Kaddish again after the 12 months because it comes not as a time when the soul will be rescued from judgment, rather as a time when the prearranged salvation and ascension will be revealed. (While at the end of the 11 months we find only the theme of salvation.)

Although the customs and practices of the 12 month yartzeit are generally associated with matters of mourning, nevertheless the ascent effected by the Kaddish recited at the end of the 12th month is a substantial rise and it is much more lofty than merely being saved from judgment in which case the negative aspects are removed allowing the soul to climb from level to level in the Garden of Eden and bask in the glory of the Shechinah.

We are now faced with another paradox. We have explained that the Kaddish effects an ascension for the deceased and minimizes the judgment, we therefore conclude saying Kaddish for an average person after eleven months out of respect for the departed soul. It is now unclear why we cease the recital of Kaddish for a Tzaddik after eleven months?

In the case of the Tzaddik the purpose of the Kaddish is solely positive, why stop?

The answer is that even for the righteous man or woman a new stage of climbing begins after eleven months which is incomparably higher than before. The elevation in the the Garden of Eden worlds attainable by the Tzaddik after eleven months is similar to the quantum-leap of the average person after eleven months. Because the jump experienced by the soul of the Tzaddik at that time is so great it is incomprehensible to say Kaddish, for even the lofty words of Kaddish are relatively weak and cannot reach the supreme energy of the ascension at that time. However, when the twelfth month is reached the person saying Kaddish is on a new, higher level, and now the words of Kaddish may once again help cause the soul to rise.