Yom Kippur - Yahrzeit candles

On Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) it is traditional to light Yahrzeit candles in remembrance for family and friends who have passed away.

Starting in the upper left-hand corner:

• First row: Lena Tobol (my mother), George Tobol (my father), Frances Tobol (my sister), Suzanne Watt (wife’s mother), Ronald Watt (wife’s father)
• Second row: Philip Graber (my great uncle, known affectionately as Unc), Mia Faegle (A close friend of Unc, She asked him to light a candle for her when she died. After Unc died, mom lit a candle for her each year. Now I do.), Grandma Sadie (my maternal grandmother, born Sadie Huff), Morris Graber (maternal grandfather), Isidor Graber (my mother’s brother who died in infancy)
• Third row: Elliott McClure (a good friend and an amazing person), Jonathan Katz (a good friend and brilliant engineer), Nathan Tobol (paternal grandfatherwho I was named after), Fannie Tobol (paternal grandmother, Uncle Julie (one of my mother’s brothers), Uncle Julie (Uncle Julie's wife)
• Fourth row: Sam Tobol (my father’s brother), Esther Felsenthal (father’s sister), Aunt Anne, (one of my mother’s sisters), Uncle Jack (Jack Englander, Aunt Anne’s husband), Maury Englander (son of Aunt Anne and uncle Jack)
• Fifth row: Aunt Roz (uncle Manny’s wife), Uncle Manny (one of my mother’s brothers), Michael Stafford (a friend of my wife’s who died of heat stroke while at work), Charles Collins (a friend and nice kid who died using meth), a candle for all that died in the Holocaust with no one to remember them.

It is traditional, when lighting Yahrzeit candles on Yom Kippur, to say the blessing for candle-lighting on a holiday:

"Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who hast sanctified us by Thy commandments and commanded us to kindle the lights of Yom Kippur".

Then, you may personalize the moment by recalling specific memories of the deceased or reciting the Yizkor prayer, which is a memorial prayer for the departed.

You will all be missed.