Sinai Memorial Chapel

Mourner Support

Ongoing Remembrances

After the initial periods of mourning, there are ongoing observances and memorials that many Jews perform. Remembrance is an important traditional Jewish value, and these observances focus on remembering those we have lost.

Yahrzeit

Yahrzeit is the annual observance of a death, held on the date of death using the Hebrew calendar. The tradition of yahrzeit is based on the idea that by observing someone’s death, we are making note of what someone became and what he or she accomplished during their lifetime.

Yahrzeit includes the lighting of a special yahrtzeit candle (lit at sunset the day preceding the anniversary date and lasting until sunset of that day). A special prayer is sometimes recited when lighting the yahrzeit candle.

Also, mourners recite Kaddish at a minyan held at a synagogue and often make a charitable tzedakah contribution in memory of the deceased.

Sinai provides ten-year yahrzeit calendars and has yahrzeit candles available for you.

Finding the Hebrew Date

To convert the Gregorian calendar date to the Hebrew calendar date, enter the Gregorian date below and indicate if the time of death was after sunset (for example, “January 1, 2013, after sunset”). Once you see the Hebrew dates, you will be able to enter them on most electronic calendars.

INSERT YAHRZEIT CALENDAR DATE CONVERTER HERE

Yizkor

Yizkor means "remember", and it is the annual remembrance of those we have lost—in our own families and in the Jewish community as a whole. It is held in the synagogue during these major Jewish holidays:

The association of a memorial prayer with these holidays may go back to the Middle Ages, when many Jews were killed by Christians as they made their way to Israel as Crusaders. These prayers therefore connect contemporary Jews to their ancestors.

While Yizkor is historically recited only by those who have lost a family member, it is also considered a way for all Jews to remember Jews who perished in the Shoah (Holocaust), since there is no one left to recite Kaddish or Yizkor for many of them, and for soldiers who have given their lives for the state of Israel or the United States.

On the afternoon before these holidays, one should light a yahrzeit candle at home in memory of the deceased. These candles burn continuously for approximately 24 hours. Please contact Sinai if you would like a memorial candle.

Yizkor prayers also encourage mourners to make a charitable donation to honor the memory of the deceased.

Visiting the Gravesite

After the unveiling anyone can visit the grave at any time, but there are certain days when people traditionally visit:

The custom when visiting a gravesite is to place a small stone on the grave using the left hand. This is an indication that someone visited the gravesite and has participated in the burial of the deceased. It also goes back to the times when graves were marked with mounds of stone; by leaving one, you are helping maintain the marker.