Hello.
Tishri kicked off what will hopefully be a year of redemption for the nation and the individual. Tehi Shenas Pidyon Hashevuyim.
Some interesting points. We had three sets of three-day Yomtov, and Pesach will do the same by falling out on a Sunday. Cheshvon is a full thirty days and has FIVE Shabbos in it! The year has no Parehas Vayelech in it. Also, the particular “kevius” of “hey, shin, alef” (meaning RH was on Thursday, Cheshvon and Kisleiv are both 30 days, and Pesach is on Sunday) hasn’t been seen since 1994 and won’t be seen for another 20 years. I was born in this type of year after it hadn’t appeared for 70 years. This year, there will be four double-parshiyos: Tazria-Metzora, Acharei-Kedoshim, Behar-Bechukosai, and Matos-Masei. First night of Chanukah will follow x-mas day.
Now, I want to share an excellent article about the origins of Yizkor that was mentioned during a superb podcast.
My friend Moshe Bensouusan, in his podcast, shared some fascinating research about the origins and evolution of the Yizkor service. We all know that in the five minutes allotted for Yizkor, only about one minute is needed to actually say Yizkor. With all the extra time, many of us began to recite the pesukim from the Roedelheim.
Well… according to a book on the Reform Prayerbook by the leading expert within that movement, the addition of these Pesukim to the Yizkor service was the innovation of the famous/infamous Hamburg (Reform) Temple. In their prayerbook of 1819, they took the simple “Yizkor Elokim” prayer and surrounded it with other prayers to make it its own service. It then added several Psalms about the shortness of life and the ephemerality of our years. The tone of these verses and prayers aimed to make Yizkor meaningful to the departed’s family. This was likely part of the drive to get people into the Shul (and donating) at the end of the Chag. It was pure marketing. In light of this listen to the Pesukim chosen in Roedelheim:
“What is man that You may know him…”
“Man is likened to air…”
“In the morning will sprout, in the evening will wither.”
“You return man to his frailty…”
“Not in death will he take all.”
The idea of appealing to the mourner at his time of need reminds me of a pamphlet I once discovered at a Jewish cemetery. It had the Kadish in Hebrew, with transliteration and a “translation.” We all know that the Kadish does not mention the departed soul. It just is a call to the community to pray for Hashem’s glory to be revealed. An unaffiliated Jewish mourner would not relate to this prayer’s inclusion in a memorial service, apparently, so the funeral home just changed the translation to include words like, “And even though we are in mourning for the departed…may their memory be….”!!!
In his book “Prayerbook Reform in Europe” (p.330), Professor Jacob Petuchowsky writes:
“Whatever else is prayerbooks today, even in Orthodox prayerbooks, as part of the Memorial Service, by way of Psalms and other readings, already represents the influence of the Reform movement in Judaism. Thus, the late Chief Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, who reprints the Memorial Service arranged by Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler (in which yizkor is preceded by several verses from the Psalms and Ecclesiastes and followed by a newly composed prayer), says in a note:
‘It has been customary for several centuries to commemorate the dead on the last day of Festivals, especially on the Day of Atonement. In recent generations, such prayers have become an important feature of the festival service.’
Petuchowsky shows that Yizkor was only expanded in “recent generations.” The expansion began in Hamburg and made it into prayerbooks across the spectrum!
People are always shocked when I point this out to them, despite these people invariably using siddurim with other modifications, some of which have been made in our lifetimes, (or just about) such as singing ידיד נפש before Kabbolas Shabbos (or additions for certain days in Iyyor, when tachanun would traditionally be said).