יאָהרצַייט - בְּיוֹם הַמִּיתָה אֲפִילוּ בְּשָׁנָה רִאשׁוֹנָה, וַאֲפִילוּ כְּשֶׁיּוֹם הַקְּבוּרָה רָחוֹק מִיּוֹם הַמִּיתָה.

A yahrzeit is commemorated on the date of a person’s passing even on the first anniversary, and even when the burial actually took place on a much later date.1

מַעֲנֵה הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק לאַאַזְמוּ"ר בִּהְיוֹתוֹ כְּבֶן שֶׁבַע: הַחֶסֶד וְיִתְרוֹן הַמַּעֲלָה אֲשֶׁר הָאֱלֹקִים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם יָשָׁר לִהְיוֹת הוֹלֵךְ בְּקוֹמָה זְקוּפָה הוּא, דַּהֲגַם שֶׁהוֹלֵךְ עַל הָאָרֶץ, מִכָּל מָקוֹם הוּא רוֹאֶה אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם, לֹא כֵן בְּהוֹלֵךְ עַל אַרְבַּע דְּאֵינוֹ רוֹאֶה אֶלָּא אֶת הָאָרֶץ.

Once, in reply to a question asked by my revered grandfather, the Rebbe [Maharash], when he was about seven years old, [his father] the Tzemach Tzedek said: “[It is written that]2 ‘G‑d made man upright.’ The unique superiority of man that G‑d showed him in His kindness by making him walk upright lies in this — that even though he treads upon the earth, he sees the heavens. A four-legged creature, by contrast, sees only the earth.”3

Delving Deeply

It is written:4 “The spirit of man... ascends upward; the spirit of an animal... descends downward.” There is nothing wrong with animals. They merely live according to their instincts, bound by their natures to seek out physical satisfaction. Man, by contrast, can never remain content with such a life. His “spirit ascends upward:” his inner make-up drives him towards spirituality. Indeed, as the Tzemach Tzedek indicates, this polarity so distinguishes humans from animals that it is manifest in our very bodies.