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Yahrzeit or Yohr Tzeit, means "Time [of] Year" in Yiddish, the phrase is still in use by non-Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews, and refers to the annual anniversary of the day of death. Yahrzeit is the Yiddish spelling of the German-language word Jahreszeit (translated: Year time, meaning "Time {of] Year". The equivalent word in Ladino is nohala. It is a widely observed Halakha (law) which is based on the Jewish custom that commemorates the death of a Jew by a mourner: The child, brother or sister, spouse or parent of the deceased.
The date of the Yahrzeit, which is determined by the Hebrew calendar, is the anniversary of the death.
The main obligation, is the custom on the day of the Yahrzeit, which begins at sundown, is to recite the Kaddish prayer three times (evening, morning, and afternoon). Also people will light a special candle which burns for 24 hours, called a "Yahrzeit candle".
In previous times, it was customary to fast on the day of the Yahrzeit. While some Jews still do this, amongst Orthodox Jews it has become customary to complete a tractate of Talmud or a volume of the Mishnah, necessitating a siyum (celebratory meal), which overrides the need to fast.
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