By Rabbi Yair Hoffman For the Five Towns Jewish Times
This article was written l’ilui nishmas the author’s mother, Sara bas HaRav Eliyahu whose yartzeit is 22 Av.
It is the custom within Klal Yisroel to light a Yartzeit candle on the day that a relative had passed away. The lighting has no accompanying blessing, and people would like to express themselves in a Tefillah when lighting the candle. This is not only true on a Yartzeit but whenever Yom Tov comes as well.
The author of the Peleh Yoetz, Rabbi Eliezer Papo (1785–1828), did in fact compose such a prayer. Rav Papo was the Rabbi of the city of Selestria in Bulgaria. Bulgaria was a part of the Ottoman Empire at the time. The Tefillah of the Pelehe Yoetz is reproduced and translated below, as a public service.
____הריני מדליק נר זה למנוחת ולעילוי נשמת אמי מורתי ____ בת
תפילה הנמצאת בספר אלף המגן מבעל הפלא יועץ על פרשת ויצא עמוד כ”ד
יהי רצון מלפניך ה’ אלקינו ואלהי אבותינו, שתקבל ברחמים וברצון כל מעשה הטוב שאני עושה, בין במחשבה, בין בדיבור, בין במעשה ויהיה הכל לזכות ולמנוחת ולעילוי לנשמות עמך ישראל, ובפרט לנפש רוח ונשמה של אמי _____. יהי רצון שתהינה נפשותיהם צרורות בצרור החיים.
Behold I am lighting this lamp for the resting and uplifting of the soul of my mother, my teacher _______ the daughter of _______.
May it be Your will before you, Hashem our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers, that all my good deeds whether in thought, speech or action be done for a merit and a resting and an elevation of the souls of your nation Israel. It should be especially for the soul of my mother _____. May it be Your will that their souls be bound in the pebbles of life.
The author can be reached at [email protected]
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4 Responses
Y Koach.
small quibble. It would appear that יהי רצון שתהינה נפשותיהם צרורות בצרור החיים is mistranslated.
..shouldn’t be more like “May it be Your will that their souls be bound in the Rock of Life”
what kind of tefila is “pebbles of life”
The translation follows the view that the expression is based upon a midrash involving a moshol where pebbles are placed in a bag as one accumulates zechusim. The reference currently eludes me. When I first heard the Midrash it seemed like a cogent analysis of the origin. Yair Hoffman
If a candle gives you happiness light one every day
or perhaps the translation should be..
May it be Your will that their souls be bound in the Bond of Life (artscroll)
(it would be unusual for the tefila to refer to an obscure midrash that no one has ever heard)