Yahrzeit
From Halachipedia
 | This article is okay. |
The Yahrzeit is a unique day on the Jewish calender marking the one year anniversary of a loved one's passing.
Kaddish
- The custom is to recite kaddish on the yahrtzeit of a parent. [1]
- One should start reciting kaddish on the friday night before the yahrtzeit. [2]
Aliya to the Torah
- One should try to go up to the torah for maftir on the Shabbat before the yahrtzeit of a parent. [3]
Fasting on the Day of the Yahrzeit
- There is a custom to fast on the day of a parent's death (yahrtzeit), every year following the death. [4] This fast should be observed on the date of the death itself, even for the first year. [5] Some poskim are not so strict with this fast because we are too weak to fast, and therefore encourage giving tzedaka and making an extra effort to learn torah [6]
- If Erev Yom Kippur is the Yahrzeit (annual remembrance of the day of the death) of one's parents, one should not fast but rely on the fast of Yom Kippur. [7]
Yahrtzeit Candle
- The custom is to light a candle on the yahrtzeit of a parent. [8]
- Some poskim say that you cannot use an electric light as a yahrtzeit candle. [9]
Wedding Celebrations
- One should avoid going to a wedding celebration on the yahrtzeit of a parent. [10]
Links
- Ten Minute Halacha - Yahrtzeit: Laws and Customs and Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz
- Article on Fasting and Feasting on a Yahrtzeit by Rabbi Yirmiyahu Kaganoff
- Article on Yahrtzeit Practices by Rabbi Dovid Roth
Sources
- ↑ Rama YD 376:4
- ↑ Kaf Hachaim 55:23
- ↑ Birkei Yosef 284:1
- ↑ Rama YD 402:12, Pri Megadim MZ OC 568:8
- Levush YD 402:12 writes that since unfortunate things have happened to the person on that day, it should be a day of teshuva and introspection for him
- Levush OC 685 writes that the reason to fast is to earn reward for the parent on this day of judgment for them
- Levush YD 402:12 writes that since unfortunate things have happened to the person on that day, it should be a day of teshuva and introspection for him
- ↑ Rabbi Eliyahu Ben-Chaim minutes 4-6
- ↑ Minchat Yitzchak 6:135
- ↑ Maamer Mordechai (Rav Mordechai Eliyahu, English version pg 447, #17)
- ↑ Magen Avraham OC 261:6 writes that if one forgot to light it earlier, he can ask a non-Jew to light a yahrtzeit candle during bein hashemashot.
- ↑ Mishneh Halachot 5:70. See there however, where he quotes that Chacham Ovadia Yosef does in fact allow using an electric light.
- ↑ Rama YD 391:3, Yalkut Yosef Kitzur S"A 2:274 says if possible even sepharadim should be stringent for this even though it is only mentioned by the Rama
