From the Rabbi

I am delighted to be celebrating my first anniversary as the rabbi of Temple Beth

Shalom. How different the building looks today than it looked last July. How

grateful we should be for a “refreshed” synagogue. Just a few weeks ago the ark

doors were installed, and the Torah scrolls were placed in their new home. We

will be reading from one of them on the first Shabbat morning of this month.

Please join us for services at 10 on July 5 and bring along a “cold” food item for

our potluck lunch that will follow. How lovely we all provide lunch for each other.

Whether we have services on a Friday night, or on a Shabbat morning, we always

read a yahrzeit list, a remembrance of our beloved family members and friends

who have passed away the week of the anniversary of their passing.

Congregations have different traditions as to when these names are read. Most

Reform congregations follow the custom that uses the Gregorian date of death to

ascertain when a name is read for yahrzeit. Traditional congregations most often

use the Hebrew date.

Either way, the minhag works as follows. The first day of the Jewish week is

Sunday. If the anniversary of a loved one’s death falls any day from Sunday

through Shabbat, then the name of that loved one is read on the Friday evening

or Saturday morning of that week. I will use my dad’s death as an example. He

died on July 1, 2000. This year, July 1 falls on Tuesday and so I will read his name

at our Saturday morning service, July 5.

Some members do prefer that we use the Hebrew date of death of family

members to determine when a name is read for yahrzeit, and we happy to honor

that request. The Hebrew date of my dad’s death was the 28 th of Sivan, and in

2025 that date fell on Saturday, June 28 th , meaning it would have been read at

services on Friday night, June 27 th . This illustrates that the Hebrew dates do not

always coordinate with the Gregorian calendar and so it can prove to be a little

challenging to know what Shabbat a name might be read. It is for ease that most

Reform congregations use the Gregorian date.

Whether using the Hebrew date or the Gregorian date we will be reading names

based upon a Sunday though Shabbat configuration. Please share with Kayla if

you would like to use the Hebrew calendar designation. If not, we will simply use

the Gregorian date.

The most important thing about yahrzeit is that we remember those that we have

loved and lost. Judaism connects this date with the recitation of Kaddish. Please

join us at services when the names of family members are read. It is an important

mitzvah to offer these sacred words on their behalf.

With my best wishes for a wonderful month ahead,

Rabbi