Yizkor Service

Yizkor Service at Beth El Congregation of Baltimore 

April 30, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. 

Our Yizkor service provides us with a beautiful opportunity to honor our loved ones whom we have lost within the past year. The liturgical cycle of the year gives us four opportunities to recite these special prayers. Although Yizkor prayers are recited on all three pilgrimage festivals as well as on Yom Kippur, it is perhaps Passover that helps us to connect most deeply.

As we sit down at our seder tables, it is very easy to see who is no longer sitting in their favorite chair, or a certain line from the haggadah read by an unfamiliar voice, or a cherished recipe that is no longer among the dishes laid out for dinner. Yizkor provides us with an opportunity to see their faces, and think of all the reasons why we love them and why we miss them. Yizkor has its origins in the martyrdom of Jewish communities from the crusades, and this year especially we will have an opportunity to think of our brothers and sisters in the State of Israel, who will not be with their families during Pesach this year.

The Jewish people have always been a people of memory, and Yizkor provides a sacred moment for us to honor not only our own loved ones, but all those of the people of Israel.