Siddur

Baruch Hashem — Blessed be the Name

Siddur

Prayers, Tehillim, and Tanakh with audio. Notes to the Kotel, Mi Sheberach for health, and Kaddish for the departed — in synagogues of Israel, America, and Europe.

Read & Listen

🕊️Western Wall · KotelKvittel: Hebrew, Yiddish, English, handwriting, voice, PDF and printКошерне життя · כשרות23 правил кашруту · 28 ресторанів і магазинів на картіSynagogues & Holy Sites33 synagogues and holy sites · Where to send a noteСвяті місця · קברי צדיקים6 врат · Хеврон, Кевер Рахель, Мерон, Амука, Умань

For Living & Departed

Jewish traditions

One does not pay for prayer — one gives tzedakah. Here is how to submit a name for the living and for a yahrzeit.

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ

Mi Sheberach — Prayer for Health

A request for recovery. The patient's name is submitted to the synagogue and recited at the Torah scroll — usually by the mother's name: "Sarah bat Rivka." One asks for a "refuah shlemah" — complete healing of soul and body. The prayer is read on Torah reading days (Monday, Thursday, Saturday) and is often continued for 40 days. It is customary to add tzedakah to the prayer — it "averts the severe decree."

קַדִּישׁ יָתוֹם

Kaddish — For the Deceased

The Mourner's Kaddish is recited by a son (or a designated person) in a minyan — for 11 months after death and then every year on the Yahrzeit. In the Kaddish, the word "death" does not appear: it is the sanctification of the Name of the Almighty, elevating the soul. If there is no one to recite it, Kaddish is commissioned for the soul of the deceased at a synagogue or yeshiva.

לְעִילּוּי נִשְׁמַת

Le-iluy Nishmat — For the Elevation of the Soul

Every good deed done in memory of the deceased elevates their soul: Torah study, reciting Tehillim, tzedakah, and good deeds. The name is submitted as "[name] ben/bat [father's name]." The first 30 days — Shloshim — are a special time of remembrance.

יאָרצײַט

Yahrzeit — A Memorial Candle

On the anniversary of the death according to the Hebrew calendar, a candle is lit that burns for 24 hours: "The candle of the Lord is the soul of man" (Proverbs 20:27). On this day, Kaddish is recited, tzedakah is given, and the grave is visited.

יִזְכּוֹר

Yizkor — Commemoration on Holidays

Four times a year (Yom Kippur, Shemini Atzeret, the last day of Pesach, and Shavuot), Yizkor is recited in the synagogue — a communal commemoration of parents and all the deceased of the nation.

קְוִיטְל

Kvitel — A Note at a Holy Site

A note with a request is placed between the stones of the Kotel or at the Ohel of a Tzadik. It is written briefly: the request and the name — according to the mother's name if for health. One who cannot come in person sends a note, and it is placed on their behalf.

צְדָקָה

Tzedakah — Instead of "Payment" for Prayer

One does not pay for prayer. Tzedakah is given — a voluntary contribution to a synagogue, yeshiva, or the needy. Often, "Pidyon Nefesh" is added — a soul's redemption: an amount that is a multiple of 18 (the numerical value of the word "Chai" — life).

Video call