“Yahrzeit” – Judgement for the Deceased

Question

Why do we say that on a Yahrzeit (annual date marking the passing of someone) that a person’s Neshama (soul) should have an aliya (be “raised” to a higher level)? Hasn’t he been judged on the day he died? If so, why should he go higher?

Answer

You have asked an excellent question. The basic answer is that there are differing levels of judgement in heaven (the nature of which we cannot truly understand). The first level is the day of death as you mention. The next level (or a next level) of judgement of a person occurs during (roughly) the first year subsequent to the death of the individual (hence the custom has developed for a child tor recite Kaddish for almost a year after the death of a parent).

However, the Jewish calendar is viewed as a spiral. The same day of the year has many of the same properties year to year. It is almost as if the days are stacked one on top of the other as in a spiral and as we pass a day of the year, that day is on top of the same day from the previous year. Thus, the commeration of the day of death – the Yahrtzeit – of the individual stimulates some sort of judgement in heaven, just as occured on the actual
day of death.

It is for that reason we say that the Neshama should have an aliya, for there is some aspect of judgement each year on the Yarhzheit.

Be well,
Rabbi Yoel Spotts

Follow-up question

Question

It seems to me that a person is judged not only by what he/she did but by what they caused to be done. If someone encouraged another person to follow the Torah, the mitzvos they, and those they subsequently influence are added to the original person’s merit. That is why if you sponsor a kiddish/sefer/siyum/etc. in memory of someone, it is though they themselves did that mitzvah. Thus, the neshama CAN rise higher and higher.I am NLT 90% sure that this is accurate. Please feel free to verify beofre posting any ammendment.

Answer

You are absolutely correct. A person’s legacy lives far beyond the person’s lifespan, and there is no question that the words and actions can and do have an impact well after a person passes on. Thus, you are correct that the soul can be elevated, after the physical body dies, due to the influence the person had on other people. At the same time, the yahrtzeit does mark a significant event where the soul is singled for judgement out in heaven, reviewing that influence and legacy, a process we can’t fully understand, of course. For that reason, on the yahrtzeit in particular, we wish the relative that the neshama should have an aliya.

In short, you are correct though. Thanks for the note.

Thanks,
Rabbi Yoel Spotts