Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, was founded in *Jerusalem by the Israeli government in 1953. It is now an extensive center for documentation, research, education, and commemoration of the *Holocaust. It takes its name from Isaiah 56:5: “And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (yad va-shem) … that shall not be cut off.” See also HOLOCAUST DOCUMENTATION; HOLOCAUST MEMORIALS; MUSEUMS.

Yahrzeit (also yortsayt). This *Yiddish word (literally “anniversary”) refers to the yearly commemoration (according to the Hebrew date) of the death of a close family member (see DEATH AND MOURNING). Among observances associated with yahrzeit are kindling a twenty-fourhour candle on the evening before the date of death, visiting the cemetery, making a donation to a worthy cause, and studying *Torah. Parents, children, siblings, and the spouse of the deceased traditionally recite the *kaddish sanctification during one or more *synagogue services, either on the date of death or the preceding *Sabbath. Fasting on the anniversary of the death of a parent was customary during talmudic times (BT Nedarim 12a; BT Shevuot 20a), and some individuals continue this practice. In the first year after a death, yahrzeit takes place on the anniversary of the funeral. In subsequent years, it is observed on the actual date of death. Modern yahrzeit rituals originated in fifteenthcentury *Germany, and the word has its origins in the German Jarhrzeit, which had similar associations in Christian practice. In *Sephardic communities, yahrzeit may be called nah. alah (inheritance) or meldado (study session).