Leonard Bernstein’s own commentary on KADDISH, Symphony no. 3:

“Every son, at one point or other, defies his father, fights him, departs from him only to return to him-if he is lucky-closer and more secure than before… All our great Judaic personalities of the past, including Abraham, who founded Judaism, and Moses and the prophets, all argued with God. They argued with God the way you argue with somebody who’s so close to you that you love so much, that you can really fight. You know how the more you love someone, the more you can get angry with them, and when you have a reconciliation, the more close you become than ever. Something like that happens in the course of this piece.”