The Memorial Prayer: Yizkor

Question

Hi Rabbi,

I was in services on Shavuot and noticed a special prayer being said called Yizkor. Would you please tell me more about it?

Thanks

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Yizkor is the special memorial prayer for one’s departed parents. It is the custom to recite it four times a year: on the last day of Passover, on the second day of Shavuot (as you noticed recently), on Shemini Atzeret and on Yom Kippur. It is the custom for those whose parents are alive to leave the synagogue during this prayer.

    The word Yizkor is Hebrew for “He (God) will remember).” In this prayer, we implore God to always remember the precious and eternal souls of our parents who have passed on from this world. When we recite Yizkor and give charity in their memory, we also renew and strengthen the connection between us and our loved one. In addition, we bring merit to the departed souls and thereby elevate them in their spiritual homes in the Afterlife.

    The Hebrew text of the Yizkor prayer is found in the synagogue prayer books for the Holidays and here is the English translation, which one can say if necessary.

    “May God remember the soul of my father (or mother or both, as applicable), my teacher (mention the Hebrew name and that of the mother) who has gone to his/her eternal, spiritual world, because I will — without obligating myself with a vow — donate charity for his/her sake. In this merit, may his/her soul be bound up in the bond of life with the souls of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, and with the other righteous men and women who are in Gan Eden; and let us say, Amen.”

    May we only hear good news and be blessed with long and healthy lives for ourselves and our families and friends.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team