Two letters in Hebrew on your relative's tombstone, can help you in your family research.
On this stone it says Avraham, son of Meir Yitzchak z"l .
For a woman, it could say Lea ,daughter of Shmuel HaKohen z"l.
In both cases, this means, in practical terms, that the parent of the deceased had died before their daughter or son. According to Ashkenazi naming tradition, there is a possibility that the deceased had a son who was named after his paternal grandfather.
The two letters themselves stand for the Hebrew words “Zichrono levracha” which translated could be “May his memory be blessed “ or “Of blessed memory”.
In this cemetery, only the father of the deceased is mentioned, but the two letters z"l could also be used in connection with a deceased woman - and then read as "Zichrona levracha"
In Hebrew ז"ל
In this cemetery, only the father of the deceased is mentioned, but the two letters z"l could also be used in connection with a deceased woman - and then read as "Zichrona levracha"
Sometimes two other Hebrew letters come after the father's name , namely נ"י
This means the father was alive at the time his son or daughter died.
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