Addresses the universal experience of grief: Roughly 2.5 million people die annually in the United States, each leaving an average of five grieving people behind. Those numbers have increased with COVID, and a recent issue of Scientific American reports the number of people with prolonged grief in the near future and beyond could be substantial. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA estimated that each US COVID death leaves, on average, approximately nine close relatives bereaved. This book speaks directly to those experiencing loss in this way.
Resonates with practitioners of Judaism: The Jewish American population is estimated at 7.6 million. With its focus on Jewish traditions, holidays, and prayer, A Daughter's Kaddish speaks directly to the 2.4% of Americans who practice Judaism.
Appeals to Jewish feminists: Jewish Feminism has been on the rise in the US since the 1970s, and many significant Jewish Feminist Institutions, including the Jewish Feminist Center, The Jewish Women’s Archive, and the Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Studies were established throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. The author touches on many Jewish feminist themes throughout the book.
Speaks to a growing demographic: The median age of Jewish adults in the US is 49, and American Jews are considered an aging population—with a growing number of people aged 65–74. A large percentage of American Jews are at or near the age where they are likely to experience grief over the loss of a parent, the main theme of A Daughter's Kaddish.