Yizkor Form

Dear Friends,

We recite the Yizkor prayers on Yom Kippur and on the last day of each of the three Festivals: Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot. We take a moment to reflect, remember, and connect with our loved ones. And we ask G‑d, too, to remember the souls of family and friends who have passed away.

But we cannot suffice with memory alone, because memory, by definition, relegates the remembered entity to the past. And we must endeavor to keep our loved ones’ legacies alive and present. They must be our inspiration, ever-present in our day-to-day life. As such, we continue to live in the company of their spirits, and they, in the World of Truth, live with us.

We remember. We are inspired. And we pledge to do good in the merit of their souls. For this reason, the Yizkor service includes a pledge to tzedakah, charity, on behalf of the deceased’s souls.

With this in mind, we will be creating a Yizkor booklet. We ask you to include the names of your loved ones. It is customary to fufill the mitzvah of remembering your loved ones and giving tzedakah in their merit.  Your charity will go toward building the local Jewish community in Traverse City.

We will mention the names in the Yizkor booklet as a part of the Keil Malei prayer at each of this year’s Yizkor services.