Does Yizkor have to be said in Shul or can it be said at home?

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Originally posted by Gila:
Does Yizkor have to be said in Shul or can it be said at home?

I didn't look it up but I will give you an opinion. Since Yizkor is just an Askenazic minhag, and a fairly recent one, one can be lenient. Saying it in the shul gives it more impact as the sefer torah is there. However many people say it at home at the time it is said in shul. Maybe analogous to the section in the Shulchan Aruch on accepting Shabbat at home. If the whole community prays early, then you accept Shabbat at home at the same time they say psalm 92 in Shul.

Aryeh Shore

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Since Yizkor is just an Askenazic minhag, and a fairly recent one, one can be lenient.

I didn't know that. Where does the minhag come from?

If we have a mitzva of Simchas Yom Tov, how can there be a minhag for Yizkor, when for most people that are saying it, it takes away from their Simchas Yom Tov?

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Saying it in the shul gives it more impact as the sefer torah is there.

Can you explain this a bit more?

Thank you so much

Gila

Yizkor is just one of those customs, like topsy which just grew. It is not mentioned in any of the early books of Askenazic customs from the 10th to 14th centuries. The source is the Lavush, 15th century, is the source of many of the customs we consider the normal part of a holiday.
My usual source for such things is the excellent series "what is the reason" by R. Chaim Press on the various holidays.

It is customary on the last day of each of the three festivals to recall our dear departed, after the reading of the torah has been completed. Yiskor is read on these days because the reading from the Torah in each case is the same, dealing with charity (Devorim 16:17), Every man according to what his hand can give". This can be understood in the light of the midrash (Sifrei Shoftim), whish states that even the deceased need redemption, which can be brought about by an act of charity.

This would be why it may be most appropriate to say yizkor in shul plus the fact that when people pledge money publically, they are more likely to pay up.
That's all I know as my parents apparently are go to live for ever and I never stay for the saying of yizkor.

Aryeh Shore

Thanks Aryeh.

I just have one more question (for now!). How can we have a minhag which interferes with so many people's mitzva of simchas yom tov?

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That's all I know as my parents apparently are go to live for ever and I never stay for the saying of yizkor.

Amen!

As we mentioned the original minhag was to say yizkor on yom kippur. It is only recently the custom started to say on the chagim so the reaoning is not discussed in the sources. (Actually the scholarly study of minghagim and their origins has only been important in the last twenty years or so.)
In any event, the simcha of the chag is not unbridled joy. It is the simcha of mitzveh. If there are poor people, widows and orphans outside our courtyard with no food while we eating our meal, it is not the mitzveh of simcha just filling your belly (Rambam). People donating charity in the name of parents would be in line with the mitzveh.

Aryeh Shore

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In any event, the simcha of the chag is not unbridled joy. It is the simcha of mitzveh. If there are poor people, widows and orphans outside our courtyard with no food while we eating our meal, it is not the mitzveh of simcha just filling your belly (Rambam). People donating charity in the name of parents would be in line with the mitzveh.

That's a nice way of looking at it. Thank you