On Lighting a Yizkor or Yartziet Candle
This is a simple new meditation, appropriate for both Yizkor and a Yartziet, to be said before or after lighting a memorial candle. The language is inclusive, accessible to persons of all faiths. Let all who mourn find peace. This piece appears in my book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press.
On Lighting a Memorial Candle
A candle.
A flame.
A memory.
G-d of generations,
Grant a perfect rest under Your tabernacle of peace
To ____________________ (name),
My ____________________ (relation: father, mother, wife, husband, brother, sister, etc.),
Who has left this life and this world.
Let his/her soul find comfort.
Let his/her memory be a blessing.
This candle is for healing,
This flame is for hope,
Calling forth our joys and sorrows,
Calling forth our hours and our days.
G-d of our ancestors,
Bring me/us solace and consolation
In this moment of remembrance.
Let all who mourn find peace.
© 2017 CCAR Press from This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers For a New Day
Postscript: Here’s a link to my other yizkor prayers and prayers of mourning. Thanks to Rabbi Paul Kipnes for suggesting that I write a new prayer for lighting a memorial candle.
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