How the yahrzeit date is worked out
The yahrzeit follows the Hebrew calendar, so its civil date moves from year to year within a range of about four weeks. The calculator takes the Hebrew date of death and finds the same date in each following Hebrew year, applying the rules of the Shulchan Aruch for dates that do not exist every year:
- 30 Cheshvan or 30 Kislev. These days exist only in some years. If the first anniversary had no 30th, the yahrzeit is kept on the 29th every year after; otherwise it is kept on the 30th when there is one and on the 1st of the next month when there isn’t.
- Adar in a leap year. Shown as two dates, Adar I and Adar II, so you can follow your family’s custom.
- Death after sunset. Moves the Hebrew date forward by one day.
Customs on the day
A memorial candle that burns for about 24 hours is lit at sundown as the yahrzeit begins. Sons, and in many communities daughters, say the Mourner’s Kaddish at the evening, morning and afternoon services. Many also visit the grave, give tzedakah, sponsor a Kiddush, or learn Mishnah chapters whose opening letters spell the person’s name.
Questions about yahrzeit
What is a yahrzeit?
A yahrzeit (Yiddish for “a year’s time”) is the anniversary of a death, kept each year on the Hebrew date. Family members light a 24-hour memorial candle, say Kaddish, and often visit the grave, study Torah or give tzedakah in the person’s memory.
When do I light the yahrzeit candle?
At sundown on the evening before the civil date shown, because the Hebrew day begins at nightfall. If the yahrzeit begins on Friday night, light it before the Shabbat candles; if it begins on a Saturday night, light it after Shabbat ends.
What if the person died after sunset?
Choose After sunset. A death after sundown belongs to the next Hebrew date, so the yahrzeit moves one day later. If you are unsure of the time, ask the family or the chevra kadisha.
What happens with Adar in a leap year?
If the death was in Adar of a common year and the yahrzeit falls in a leap year, Ashkenazi custom (Rema) keeps it in Adar I and Sephardi custom (Shulchan Aruch) in Adar II; many observe both. The calculator lists both dates.
Is the first yahrzeit different?
In some communities, when burial took place three or more days after death, the first yahrzeit is kept on the anniversary of the burial. From the second year on it is always the date of death. Ask your rabbi which custom applies.
Sources: Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 568:7–8 with Rema (yahrzeit dates and Adar); Yoreh De’ah 402:12 (first yahrzeit).