A Candle-lighting Ritual to Prepare for the Yizkor of Shavuot

Ritual elements:

Candle and matches/lighter

A vase of flowers/greenery

1. Place the vase of flowers/greenery and say:

As our ancestors brought the first fruits of their harvest as Temple offerings on ShavuotShavuot is the holiday fifty days after Passover and commemorates when the Israelite liberation from Egypt culminates with the giving of the Torah. Traditionally, Jews study in an all-night study session, eat dairy products (one interpretation is that the Torah is like milk to us), and read both the Ten Commandments and the Book of Ruth., so we bring to this Yizkor service our offerings of love and memory.

As these flowers and greenery remind us of the legend that Mount SinaiAccording to the Torah, God, in the presence of the Jewish people, gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai (Har Sinai). burst into flower when we received the life-giving teachings of TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general., so may the love in our hearts flower again as we honor love that is as fierce as death, that transcends physical separation.

2. Light candles

3. Say: 

We light these candles to honor the souls of our beloved __________. 

We are taught that when the Torah was received, all Jews who ever existed and ever will exist stood together at Mt. Sinai. 

As these flames flicker, may they re-ignite our memories and illuminate our prayers. May our souls and the souls of our beloveds be held close in the precious shelter of this time.

We thank and bless you, Source of Light, Life and Love, for the blessings of the life we shared, for the light and warmth with which ________ enriched our lives, for the sacred act of remembering.