two years

The alert popped up on my Google calendar this morning: say Yizkor.

Yizkor is a memorial prayer, said on certain Jewish holidays, in memory of deceased loved ones.

You're expected to say the prayer for a parent, a sibling, a spouse, or a child.  You may say the prayer for other deceased relatives, for Jewish martyrs, etc., but it's not required.  When you say the prayer, you use the Yiddish or Hebrew name of the deceased, and the name of the deceased's father. 

There's a superstition that if your parents are still alive, you should not be in the sanctuary when the prayer is said.  For many years I left the sanctuary when it was time for Yizkor; but more recently, when the Rabbi encouraged everyone to stay, I did.

And then, two years ago, I became someone who was expected to say Yizkor.

Sometimes it seems like my father has been gone from us forever, sometimes I come home expecting to see him there. 

So now I say Yizkor for my father:



May the L-rd remember
the soul of my father, my teacher, Labe Bear ben Feivel haKohen
who has gone on to his world,
because, without making a vow, I shall give to charity on his behalf.
As reward for this,
may his soul be bound in the Bond of Life,
together with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;
Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah;
and together with the other righteous men and women in the Garden of Eden.
Now let us respond: Amen.