280 - Yiskor

The memorials commemorating last year’s terror attacks included the reading of the names of those killed, much as we hear the names each Shabbat of the people whose yartzeit has occurred during that week. Some television stations ran banners with the names, some with photos and brief bios, reminding me of the Yiskor books distributed on the afternoon of Yom Kippur. I thought of the memorial candles I light every year before Kol Nidre that recall the loved ones I have lost and how each of us is a flame awaiting God’s spark.

Two Hundred Eighty

Yiskor

We begin in darkness.
Our hands move to strike the match:
We sanctify this Sabbath of Sabbaths,
We kindle lights to illuminate recall.

We await Your healing flame, Light Creator,
Our souls’ dimness begs Your radiance;
You multiply the flickering candles,
You transform them to a beacon of safety.

You inscribe a name with each brand,
In fire You name the living and the dead;
Lost faces hover before heart’s recall,
Our own faces shimmer in the eye of awareness.

As You call us to memory, You call us to action,
Ephemeral candle flames signify purpose;
Deeds of kindness are apt memorials,
These are the duties for Your sake that light our lives.