Join Us for Shavuot Yizkor, Today, Friday, May 22nd, 10 AM

There was a lot of coming and going around the Yizkor memorial service when I was a kid, as younger people, whose parents were living, left the sanctuary and others came in because their parents were no longer alive. Over the years, I have heard a variety of explanations for this custom and the service itself, all pointing to the significance of the Yizkor remembrances for our loved ones, and the history of this important ceremony.

The traditional Yizkor service was 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 reaction to widespread destruction and death of Jews during the Crusades. As the centuries moved on, Yizkor service contributions included prayers written after anti-Jewish riots in the 17th century and later, with the widely known El Male Rachamim, was 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/Simhat Torah, Passover, and Shavuot, today at 10 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 as 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 today for Shavuot. That is why we talk about Yizkor now, and all are invited to attend, regardless of who one wants to remember. I hope you can join us. And, as always, we welcome your thoughts and reactions.

With best holiday wishes,

Rabbi Dennis Ross