Susan Simon, the Director of Education at Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland sent this information out about the last night of Passover. This night is one of the four special times a year that we observe Yizkor.
Shalom Friends,
It is customary to remember loved ones who have died at several different times on the Jewish calendar by lighting a yahrzeit candle. The one most people are familiar with is before Kol Nidre/Yom Kippur. If you have the specially made candles, you light them before sundown and they burn for more than 24 hours.
Some of you may not know that it is also the custom to do this whenever we have a holiday where we include a Yizkor or memorial service. The evening before 8th day Pesach is such a time.
We miss our loved ones who have died, and now more people in the world are suffering having recently lost loved ones to this plague. I will be lighting yahrzeit candles tonight to remember my loved ones but I will also have in mind the thousands of people who are currently grieving with horrific losses.
Please join me in lighting a candle tonight and safely letting it burn in your home as a reminder of some of the lights that have been extinguished, some recently and some long ago. If your candle is for a loved one, try offering a prayer of thanks that you had them in your life for a while and acknowledging what a hole has been left. There is no special prayer to be recited.
Just be sure to put that candle in a safe place!
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