Society Of The Benevolent Father Kaddish

The Ministry of Special Cases is rooted in Argentinas history from the time of the Zvi Migdal—a criminal organization of Jewish gangsters who were active in Buenos Aires and ran the brothels—to the time of the military junta of 1976-1983, during which thousands of Argentine citizens, mostly young people, vanished without a trace. Discuss with your group how this affects your reading of the story.

Kaddish is the only one of the children of the Society of the Benevolent Self—“a disgrace beyond measure for every Argentine Jew”—who is willing to acknowledge his heritage. Yet he makes his living from obliterating the names on tombstones in the sealed-off cemetery that contains his heritage. How does Kaddish see himself: as a servant of the truth and of history, or as an opportunist with no particular loyalties?
As they drive home from the hospital Pato tells Kaddish, “Youre lazy. Youre a failure. Youve kept us down. You embarrass us. You cut off my finger. You ruined my life.” The narrator goes on to refer to “the grand Jewish tradition of the dayeinu . . . And central to the form is the notion that each accusation, if that had been Kaddishs only shortcoming, still it would have been enough” (p. 61). How complicated are Patos feelings for his father? Why does Kaddish so often make poor