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NEWSLETTER MAY 2008
CELEBRATING A YAHRZEIT Just as we celebrate the birthdays of the living, so we remember the anniversaries of the deaths of those we have loved. The anniversary of a person's death is called a "Yahrzeit" in Yiddish. By commemorating the day, we remember the person we cared for and honour their memory. They have died, but we keep their memory alive. When is the Yahrzeit? Traditionally we mark the Yahrzeit on the Hebrew date of death (not the date of the funeral). If you do not know this then there are websites where you can check it (See note 1). Alternatively, you can let me have the civil date and I 'll let you know the Hebrew equivalent. You can then note it on the flyleaf of your Siddur, an Ashkenazi custom. Remember that each new Hebrew day starts at dusk, so if a person died after dusk, their Yahrzeit will correspond to the civil date of the following day. Those with relatives who perished in the Holocaust should observe Yahrzeit on Yom HaShoah, 27th Nissan. (See note 2) What do I do on a Yahrzeit? As dusk falls, you light a memorial candle that will burn for 25 hours (See note 3) There is no special blessing, although you might like to say kaddish and one of the preceding meditation(s) on pages 522 & 523 of Siddur Lev Chadash. You might also like to spend some quiet moments reading through the Memorial Service on pages 512 – 516. PJC reminds congregants of the month in which a Yahrzeit falls, using the civil date. You should come to synagogue on Shabbat to say Kaddish with the whole community. Before Kaddish, the Rabbi will mention the names of all those whose Yahrzeits fall during that month (see note 4). On Shabbat morning, someone with a Yahrzeit may be called up to the Torah to say the blessings. It is also customary to mark a Yahrzeit by making a donation to charity. Notes:
Based upon a guidance note by Rabbi David Hulbert of Beit Tikvah, Barkingside Progressive Synagogue, who officiated at the funeral of my father, Joseph Bernard Simmonds z"l who died on October, 31st 1997 — Byron Simmonds |
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