The Yizkor service is commemorated four times a year: on Yom Kippur, on Shemini Atzeret, the second-to-last day of Sukkot, on the last day of Pesach, and on the second day of Shavuot. The main purpose is to remember our deceased by giving tzedakah. The theory is that the good deeds of the living elevate the souls of the dead. Yizkor means “may He remember.”

In the book of Maccabees II (12:43-46) it is told that Yehuda HaMaccabi sent a donation to the Temple in Jerusalem, as an atoning sacrifice so that the soul of the deceased fighters would be absolved of their sins. The oldest source that speaks of Yizkor is the Midrash Tanchuma, which mentions the custom on Yom Kippur of remembering the deceased with a donation. The Ashkenazi custom of also commemorating it on other holidays probably began in the time of the Crusades, when many Jewish communities were wiped off the map as a result of the massacres perpetrated by the Crusaders. The survivors wrote down the names of the deceased in a book, the “Sefer Hazikaron.” The oldest known is from a community in Nuremberg and dates back to 1296. These books were also called “Sefer Hazkarat Neshama,” the book of remembrance of souls. In it, the names of the deceased were written beginning with the phrase “Yizkor Elohim nishmat . . .”, may God remember the soul of …..

There is a superstition in many communities that if someone’s parents are alive, that person must leave the temple during Yizkor, some say so as not to tempt the “evil eye” if one remains seated while the mourners are standing. There is no rule that says that those whose parents are still alive must leave the service. Many rabbis even suggest that everyone stay at Yizkor so that the entire congregation can remember the martyrs of the Jewish people, such as those who died in the Holocaust and in the wars waged by the State of Israel. It is also to give comfort to those who have lost relatives and are especially moved by the Yizkor service.

Commemorating Yizkor presupposes the Jewish concept that the soul is immortal and that although the deceased can no longer perform good deeds, they can benefit from the prayers, donations and other good deeds that those who survive them can perform in their name. The essence of Yizkor is to ask God to remember our relatives and to include them in the bond of life in paradise, alongside our patriarchs, matriarchs and other great figures. In return, we promise to do tzedakah in their name. Yizkor is that special time that helps us remember that loved one who is no longer with us. It is that time when, in community, we console one another. More than needing Him to remember them, we need to not forget them.

Prepared by Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Articles by Dr. Ron Wolfson, Rabbi Jack Abramowitz and other sources.