Yahrzeit calculator
A yahrzeit falls on the Hebrew date of death, so on the ordinary calendar it moves every year. Enter the date of death, and say whether it was after sunset.
Choose a date of death to see the result.
How the yahrzeit is calculated
The yahrzeit (Yiddish for "a year’s time") is the anniversary of a death on the Hebrew calendar. The Hebrew calendar is lunisolar: an ordinary year is about eleven days shorter than a solar year, and seven times in every nineteen years a whole month, Adar II, is added. So the yahrzeit lands on a different Gregorian date every year, sometimes almost three weeks apart.
The Hebrew day begins at sunset, not at midnight. Someone who died after sunset died on the following Hebrew day, even though the Gregorian date had not changed. The death certificate usually records the time; the funeral home or burial society can confirm it.
The yahrzeit itself begins at sunset on the evening before and ends at nightfall on the day. A memorial candle is lit that evening and burns for about twenty-four hours.
Where customs differ
- A death in Adar of an ordinary year. A leap year has two months of Adar. The calculator shows the date in Adar I, as most Ashkenazi communities observe it; Sephardi custom observes it in Adar II, and some observe both. Where this applies, the calculator shows the Adar II date as well.
- A death in Adar I or Adar II of a leap year. In an ordinary year it is observed in Adar; in a leap year, in the same Adar in which the person died.
- A death on the 30th of Cheshvan or Kislev. In some years these months have only 29 days. The calculator follows the rule used by the standard calendars, but this is exactly the case to ask a rabbi about.
- The first yahrzeit. When the burial took place several days after the death, some communities observe the first yahrzeit on the date of burial. That, too, is a question for your rabbi.
What people do on the yahrzeit
- Light a memorial candle at sunset the evening before. When that evening is the end of Shabbat or a festival, light it once Shabbat or the festival is out; when the yahrzeit falls on Shabbat or a festival, light it beforehand, before the Shabbat or festival candles. The list above notes this beside each date it affects.
- Say Kaddish at the day’s services. Many are also called up to the Torah on the Shabbat before.
- Visit the grave. When the yahrzeit falls on Shabbat or a festival, the visit is usually made the day before or after.
- Study in the person’s memory (a custom is to choose chapters of Mishnah whose first letters spell their name) and give to charity.
- Gather as a family, tell stories about them and share memories. More on the shloshim and yahrzeit customs
One place for everything that remains
A memorial page you keep: the life story, photographs, recordings, and memories that family and friends send and you approve. A reminder before each yahrzeit when the page keeps the Hebrew date, and everything downloadable at any time. Creating and filling the page is free. It stays private, seen only by you, until you open it to others with one payment: ₪99 in Israel, $39 elsewhere. No subscription.
Common questions
What is the difference between a yahrzeit and an azkara?
Azkara is the Hebrew word Israelis use for the memorial gathering, usually at the grave, held on the yahrzeit or close to it, and also at the end of the shloshim, the first thirty days.
What if I do not know whether the death was before or after sunset?
The time is usually on the death certificate, and the hospital or burial society can confirm it. If there is no way to know, ask a rabbi how to fix the date.
Why does the yahrzeit fall on a different date every year?
Because it follows the Hebrew calendar, whose months follow the moon and whose years are kept in step with the sun by adding a thirteenth month in leap years. An ordinary Hebrew year is shorter than a Gregorian one; a leap year is about three weeks longer.
Can I get a reminder before the yahrzeit every year?
Yes. Download the calendar file here for the next ten years. A memorial page on Place a Stone also emails the people who keep it a week before each yahrzeit, every year, as long as the page keeps the Hebrew date. A page created from this calculator keeps it from the start; on any other page, turn on “Hebrew dates and the yahrzeit” in its settings. Create a memorial page
Does the calculator keep what I enter?
No. The calculation happens in your browser, and no date or name is sent to us.