The New Jew: A Field Guide

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pp. 848-849

Yizkor

yizkor

יזכור

Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

For one’s father:

Hebrew

יִזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים נִשְׁמַת אָבִי מוֹרִי (פְּלוֹנִי בֶּן פְּלוֹנִי) שֶׁהָלַךְ לְעוֹלָמוֹ, בַּעֲבוּר
שֶׁבְּלִי נֶדֶר אֶתֵּן צְדָקָה בַּעֲדוֹ. בִּשְׂכַר זֶה תְּהֵא נַפְשׁוֹ צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר
הַחַיִּים עִם נִשְׁמוֹת אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה,
וְעִם שְׁאָר צַדִּיקִים וְצִדְקָנִיּוֹת שֶׁבְּגַן עֵדֶן, וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

Israeli

yizkor Elohim nishmat avi mori (p'loni ben p'loni) shehalach le-olamo, ba-avur
shebli neder eten tz'dakah ba-ado. bischar zeh tehei nafsho tz'rurah bitzror
hachayim im nishmot Avraham Yitzchak veya-akov, Sarah Rivkah Rachel vele-ah,
ve-im she-ar tzadikim vetzidkaniyot shebgan Eden, venomar Amen.

For one’s mother:

Hebrew

יִזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים נִשְׁמַת אִמִּי מוֹרָתִי (פְּלוֹנִית בַּת פְּלוֹנִי) שֶׁהָלְכָה לְעוֹלָמָה,
בַּעֲבוּר שֶׁבְּלִי נֶדֶר אֶתֵּן צְדָקָה בַּעֲדָהּ. בִּשְׂכַר זֶה תְּהֵא נַפְשָׁהּ צְרוּרָה
בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים עִם נִשְׁמוֹת אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל
וְלֵאָה, וְעִם שְׁאָר צַדִּיקִים וְצִדְקָנִיּוֹת שֶׁבְּגַן עֵדֶן, וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

Israeli

yizkor Elohim nishmat imi morati (p'lonit bat p'loni) shehalechah le-olamah,
ba-avur shebli neder eten tz'dakah ba-adah. bischar zeh tehei nafshah tz'rurah
bitzror hachayim im nishmot Avraham Yitzchak veya-akov, Sarah Rivkah Rachel
vele-ah, ve-im she-ar tzadikim vetzidkaniyot shebgan Eden, venomar Amen.

For martyrs:

Hebrew

יִזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים נִשְׁמַת (male פְּלוֹנִי בֶּן פְּלוֹנִי / female פְּלוֹנִית בַּת פְּלוֹנִי) וְנִשְׁמוֹת כָּל
קְרוֹבַי וּקְרוֹבוֹתַי, הֵן מִצַּד אָבִי הֵן מִצַּד אִמִּי, שֶׁהוּמְתוּ וְשֶׁנֶּהֶרְגוּ
וְשֶׁנִּשְׁחֲטוּ וְשֶׁנִּשְׂרְפוּ וְשֶׁנִּטְבְּעוּ וְשֶׁנֶּחֶנְקוּ עַל קִדּוּשׁ הַשֵּׁם, בַּעֲבוּר
שֶׁבְּלִי נֶדֶר אֶתֵּן צְדָקָה בְּעַד הַזְכָּרַת נִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶם. בִּשְׂכַר זֶה תִּהְיֶינָה
נַפְשׁוֹתֵיהֶם צְרוּרוֹת בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים עִם נִשְׁמוֹת אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב,
שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה, וְעִם שְׁאָר צַדִּיקִים וְצִדְקָנִיּוֹת שֶׁבְּגַן עֵדֶן,
וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

Israeli

yizkor Elohim nishmat (male p'loni ben p'loni / female p'lonit bat p'loni) venishmot kol
k'rovai ukrovotai, hen mitzad avi hen mitzad imi, shehumetu veshenehergu
veshenishchatu veshenisrefu veshenitbeu veshenechenku al kidush Hashem, ba-avur
shebli neder eten tz'dakah be-ad hazkarat nishmoteihem. bischar zeh tihyenah
nafshoteihem tz'rurot bitzror hachayim im nishmot Avraham Yitzchak veya-akov,
Sarah Rivkah Rachel vele-ah, ve-im she-ar tzadikim vetzidkaniyot shebgan Eden,
venomar Amen.

Commentary

… ence on us that we are in the synagogue, that we pray, and that we try to do good in this life. A connection is thus made between the dead and the living. We remember them; with God’s help, their virtues live on in us. That is as much of immortality as we can know in the land of the living.

It is a custom at Yizkor also to remember the Jewish martyrs, including the victims of the Holocaust, for we are the guardians of their memory. The dead cannot be brought back to life, but we can act in such a way as to ensure that they did not die in vain, by showing that the faith for which they died still lives. To the Yizkor prayer itself have been added a series of biblical verses on life and death, together with a prayer that we may act in such a way as to honor the memory of those, especially our parents, who are no longer here.

Bible. The past is not lost: we remain connected to it to the extent that we remember it, honor it, and keep faith with it. We are its heirs – our lives are part of a story that began long before we were born and will continue long after we physically cease to be. Above all, God remembers – as we say in every Amida, He “remembers the loving-kindness of the fathers.” For Him, there is no forgetting.

At Yizkor, our memory reaches out to that of God. We ask Him to remember those of our family who are no longer here. We ask Him to look on the good we do (it is a custom to donate a sum to charity at this time and attribute it to the souls of the departed ones), for it is because of their influ- …