Psalms for the soul, by the letters of the name

It is customary to read, for the elevation of the soul of the deceased, the verses of Psalm 119 that begin with the letters of their Hebrew name, followed by the verses of the letters נ-ש-מ-ה (neshama, "soul"). Psalm 119 is an alphabetical acrostic: eight verses for each of the 22 Hebrew letters.

Usually during the shiva, at the shloshim, at the memorial and on the yahrzeit, at home or at the graveside. Customs vary between communities.

Some communities add "ben" (son of) or "bat" (daughter of) and the parent's name; others read only the name of the deceased. In the tool you can choose according to your family's custom.

The eight verses of that letter are read each time it appears in the name. Final-form letters (ך, ם, ן, ף, ץ) are read as the ordinary letter.

A page printed at home may end up being thrown away. To avoid that, the four-letter divine name is shown by default as ה'. You can untick the box to show the full text.

No. The stanzas are built on your device, and nothing is sent to a server. The name appears only in the link, if you choose to share it.