(Heb. hazkarat neshamot, "commemorating souls"; often abbreviated as hazkarah, azkarah, or mazkir). Traditional prayers memorializing the dead and expressing the hope that their souls may be granted eternal repose. This practice is clearly ancient, since there is a reference in the Apocrypha to Judah Maccabee's dispatch of contributions to Jerusalem after his victory over Gorgias, "to pray for the dead and make atonement for them, so that they might be cleared of their sin" (II Macc. 12:43ff.). By the talmudic period, as various Midrashic statements indicate, prayers in memory of the dead had become an accepted custom. In the Ashkenazi world, memorializing the departed was restricted to certain specified occasions.
A common practice in all rites is for memorial prayers to be said at a Funeral, during the week of Mourning after burial, at the consecration of a Tombstone, and on a Yahrzeit, the anniversary of a close relative's death. A short version of these prayers is also recited on the Day of Atonement and (among Ashkenazim) on each of the Pilgrim Festivals (Passover, Shavu'Ot, Sukkot). In general, the prayers express reverence for the departed and call for God's merciful treatment of their souls, the assumption being that the heartfelt prayers of living descendants will benefit the deceased.The best-known memorial prayer is the Kaddish, recited during the mourning period and on a yahrzeit. In fact this is not a memorial prayer but a doxology hallowing God's name that Jews recited after hearing an aggadic sermon or discourse. The general practice is to recite it for 11 months.
For deceased relatives other than parents, Kaddish is said only for the first 30 days in most rites. Western Sephardim maintain the original custom whereby mourners do not recite Kaddish on the Sabbath and festivals.
Among Sephardi, Italian, and Oriental Jews, the standard memorial prayer is known as hashkavah (also spelled hashkabah or ashcava), which means "laying to rest." Whoever wishes to memorialize a deceased relative is called to the Reading of the Law and, after his portion has been read, the ḥazzan (Cantor) chants the hashkavah, including in it the name(s) of the deceased. Separate texts are used for men and women, and special introductory verses honor a deceased rabbi or president of the community. The hashkavah is read on the Sabbath either before or after a death anniversary, according to local custom, and on such occasions a contribution is often pledged to the synagogue in memory of the deceased.
In many Sephardi congregations, an additional hashkavah is recited each Sabbath morning (or afternoon) for those members who died within the past 11 months. A special hashkavah is recited on the Day of Atonement, both at the Kol Nidré service and the next morning, in memory of the community's former rabbis. Spanish and Portuguese congregations retain a book of "perpetual hashkavot" with the names of members who left bequests to the congregation or who distinguished themselves in leadership, all of these names being mentioned in a hashkavah for the Day of Atonement.
Ashkenazi practice differs from the above in several important respects. First, the hashkavah is replaced by a formula known as hazkarat neshamot, its central feature being the EL MALÉ RAḤAMIM prayer. This is recited after the Torah reading on weekdays (and never on a regular Sabbath), either when that Monday or Thursday coincides with the yahrzeit or when it immediately precedes the appropriate date. From the Maḥzor Vitry, compiled in 11th-century France, it appears that charitable offerings and prayers for the dead were then customary on the Day of Atonement only. As a result of the massacres accompanying the First Crusade, however, a special prayer for martyrs and destroyed Jewish communities entered the Franco-German ritual. This memorial prayer, entitled Av Ha-Raḥamim ("Merciful Father"), is recited by Ashkenazim on most Sabbath mornings throughout the year.
Also unique to the Ashkenazi tradition is the elaborate memorial service held after the Reading of the Law on four annual occasions: the last day of Passover, Shavu'ot, the Day of Atonement, and Shemini Atseret. Until as late as the 18th century, it took place on the Day of Atonement only. From the first word of the opening prayer, this memorial service is known as Yizkor ("May [God] remember"), and it comprises special prayers in memory of parents and other close relatives, as well as El Malé Raḥamim prayers for individuals, the six million Holocaust martyrs, and those who fell in defense of the State of Israel. A custom widely observed (though not obligatory) is for those with two living parents to leave the synagogue while Yizkor is recited; one reason for this may originally have been a wish to avert the Evil Eye. A vestige of the Yizkor formula has been preserved in the Italian rite, and some non-Ashkenazim have recently introduced a comparable memorial service in their own festival liturgy.
Various memorial services of a more general nature have been introduced in recent decades, a precedent having been set by the Remembrance Day services held in various countries for the fallen of both World Wars. Yom Ha-Sho'ah (Holocaust Memorial Day) is now observed throughout the Jewish world (on 27 Nisan in Israel; on 19 April in the Diaspora), and some communities also hold a special memorial service for the martyrs of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis. In Israel, Yom ha-Zikkaron (Remembrance Day) is observed on 4 Iyyar in tribute to those who fell in defense of the State of Israel. Memorial Lights are kindled on each of these solemn occasions.
