Yarzheit יארצייט (or correctly spelt is yahrzeit) is the Yiddish word given to the anniversary of a person's death. Literally it is a composite from the two German words "yahr" meaning "year" and "zeit" meaning "time".

The spiritual significance of the yarzheit is the "anniversary day" that the soul (neshoma נשמה) left this physical world and entered the spiritual world - the day of death. In the same way we all remember and celebrate our birthdays, the annual anniversary of the day we entered this physical world, on a spiritual level, we remember the anniversary day on which our loved ones left this physical life to continue their souls journey in the "spirit world".

There are no "Torah laws" regarding the observance yarzheits, it is purely a "kabbala" - a spiritual tradition - that has been passed down through the generations for the past 4400 years from the time of our forefathers, Abraham Izaac and Jacob. Therefore this spiritual tradition of observing the anniversary of death is not just exclusively applicable to jewish people, it is a spiritual tradition that all peoples of all religions observe.

A fundamental spiritual belief of all of humanity is that this physical world is just a transitional world into the Spirit world. Our soul lived before we came to this world and continues to live after we leave this life, we are all just temporary visitors to this world on a specific and purposeful journey.

The Mishne in Pirkei Avos - Ethics of Fathers chapter 4, verse 21, quotes Rebbi Yaakov:-

"This world is just a corridor in front of the next world"
"Prepare yourself in the hallway before you enter the main hall"

The famous Chofetz Chaim, Reb Yisroel Meir Kagan, (who died in 1933), who once had a visitor from the USA, a wealthy american travelling across Europe, when he saw that the famous Rabbi living in one small room with so few possessions, the visitor asked "where are all your belongings ?" The rabbi answered the visitor, "and where are all your belongings?!" The visitor said, "at home in the USA, as i am just travelling and passing through Europe on holiday". They both smiled and the american quickly realised the lesson, that we are all just passing through this physical world on a journey, so why should we need and be so attached to so many materialistic items, that we can't take with us to the eternal spirit world !