Ten points to anyone who knows what the origin of Yahrzeit is and where the tradition of lighting a candle comes from.
It surprised me!
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Jesse E. Paikin…
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I’ll bet I’m the last person you’d expect to reply.
It wasn’t called Yahrzeit until the 16th century. It comes from the German word Jahrzeit, a word used by the Christian Church, believe it or not, for the occassion of honouring the dead.
It’s the similarity between a candle’s flame and the soul. The flickering flame helps to remind us of the departed soul of our loved one.
The connection derives from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 20, verse 27, “The soul of a man is the light of God.”
Now before you start thinking I must be going to Torah study….it’s amazing what you can find when you Google!
Ding ding ding! The (surprise) winner!
Good use of google; I doubt that this would have come up at Torah study to begin with…
34, bro