The Yizkor Backstory: Why Talk about Yizkor Now?

Recent conversations about Yizkor Memorial Services at Temple Shaaray Tefila brought up memories of what happened at Yom Kippur Yizkor when I was a kid. There was a lot of coming and going at Yizkor time, with younger people, whose parents were living, leaving the sanctuary and others coming in because their parents were no longer alive. Over the years, I have heard a variety of explanations for the customs and the service itself, all leading to the significance of the Yizkor remembrances for our loved ones, and the history of this important ceremony.

The traditional Yizkor service structure started just one prayer, a simple paragraph that asks God to remember the souls of deceased parents, and leaves space to fill in the names. To that, our Rabbis added the Av Harachamim, an emotion-filled prayer written in reaction to widespread destruction and death of Jews during the Crusades. As the centuries moved on, Yizkor additions included prayers written after anti-Jewish riots across Europe from the 17th century and later, notedly the El Male Rachamim, composed after attacks against Jews in Poland. Yizkor, as we know it today, includes many contemporary selections.

So, a good question is “Yizkor isn’t until Yom Kippur and the fall. Why are we talking about Yizkor now?” and the answer is that in addition to Yom Kippur, we have Yizkor at the conclusion of other holidays: Sukkot/Simchat Torah, Passover, and Shavuot, which we will observe this Monday morning, June 2, at 9:00 AM.

Why more than just Yom Kippur? The recitation of Yizkor on the festivals “apparently originated in central Europe following the massacres of Jews in German lands during the Black Death of the 14th century,” according to Rabbi Richard Sarason of Hebrew Union College. Rabbi Sarason added that the Jewish mystics also encouraged memorial prayers on the festivals at especially auspicious times to pray for the well-being of those we love.

So, we have Yizkor on Yom Kippur, Sukkot/Simchat Torah, Passover, and next Monday morning, for Shavuot. That is why we talk about Yizkor now. We will include Yizkor among the traditional Shavuot morning prayers, that will include the reading of the Ten Commandments, a traditional Shavuot practice. I hope you can join us. And, as always, we welcome your thoughts and reactions.

With best holiday wishes.