Yahrzeit

The yearly anniversary of a death, marked with a candle and the Kaddish.

Yahrzeit, also yortsayt, is Yiddish for the annual anniversary of the death of a parent or other close relative. The date follows the Jewish lunar calendar, so it falls on a different day in the ordinary calendar each year. It is one of the most important moments of remembrance in Jewish life.

On the yahrzeit a candle is lit that burns for twenty-four hours, the yahrzeit candle, often in a glass. The light refers to a verse from Proverbs: the human soul is the lamp of the Lord. The bereaved says kaddish in the synagogue, the prayer that sanctifies God, and is sometimes given the honour of being called to the Torah. Many people give tzedakah, charity, on that day, study a text in memory, or visit the grave.

The deceased is also remembered four times a year in the Yizkor prayer, on Yom Kippur and on the last days of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. The year of mourning after a death has its own customs, and the yahrzeit follows on from it as a lasting, annual bond.

Many people notice that around the yahrzeit they dream of their deceased parent or grandparent. In the Jewish tradition such a dream is usually read not as a prediction, but as an invitation to remember: to light a candle, say kaddish or do something good in memory. The rabbis stay sober: whoever is occupied with a deceased person dreams of them.

Whoever does not know the exact date can consult a rabbi or a yahrzeit calendar; many synagogues send their members a yearly reminder.

On Dreamkin Jewish readings of dreams about the deceased often refer to this custom.