As regards ‏קדיש וברכו‎, two prayers generally united, it must be remarked that in their meaning they are disunited: the half-kaddish is the conclusion of the mizmorim or pesuke dezimrah, and ‏ברכו‎ is the commencement of the next section: shema, with its benedictions. The half-kaddish, wherever it occurs, concludes some section of the Service. In shacharith, after Amidah, or after “Supplications,” or after the Reading of the Law; at Musaf, Minchah, Neïlah, and Maaribh after the introductory psalms. The half-kaddish before the Amidah in the Maaribh is probably a remnant of the whole kaddish that used to be said when the Service ended there and the Amidah was considered optional (‏רשות‎). 4. On Page 442 (3). An important element in the Service is religious instruction. The means adopted were the reading of the Torah and Haphtarah, the introduction of moral lessons, principles of faith, exposition of Divine precepts into the Service, and lectures containing various lessons, exhortations, and explanations of the Biblical and Post-Biblical Sacred Literature. These lectures are an ancient institution. The prophets instructed the people, especially on New-moon and Sabbath (2 Kings iv. 23); the Scribes and the Rabbis of the Talmudic age expounded the Torah and other Biblical and Post-Biblical writings; they were followed by darshanim and maggidim, the modern preachers and ministers. The aim of these lectures is to create, maintain, or intensify the fear of God and the love of the Torah (‏אהבת תורה ויראת שמים‎). The Sermon has lost much of its original force and influence. The cause of this fact is probably to be sought chiefly in the materialism and scepticism of the age, but to some degree also in the character of the sermon. It cannot be denied that the pulpit, instead of being made a place from which Love of Torah and Fear of God receive life, encouragement, and strength, is frequently turned into a platform for discussing communal or personal quarrels or theological controversies, or creating a discontent with existing institutions, without sufficiently considering the result of such discontent. Themes like these are not outside the province of the preacher, but they must not be the staple of his discourses, which must principally seek to foster ‏אהבת תורה ויראת שמים‎ in the hearts of the congregants. As to the history and literature of this branch of the Service, see Zunz, Die Gottesdienstlichen Vorträge der Juden. Berlin, 1832. 5. On Page 420.