Shiva

The Mourning Pattern, Five Stages of Mourning, The Mourner and the Mourned, The thirty day Period, Candles in the House of Mourning, Mourning observances in the Home

The mourners typically gather in a single home to observe shiva together.

The laws of mourning are incumbent upon seven first-degree relatives of the deceased.

After death, the soul ascends to heaven in stages and sitting shiva is a final act of compassion we can offer our loved ones before the soul takes its final departure. In this lesson, we will discuss the laws of shiva, the symbolism of the Torah’s mournin...

For a week after a funeral, the close relatives of the deceased sit and mourn the loss of their relative. “Shiva” is Hebrew for “seven,” since this stage of mourning lasts for seven days.

Did you know that mourning for seven days is an ancient custom that predates the giving of the Torah? Learn all about it here.

I am in the seven-day mourning period for my sister. I am curious about some of the mourning customs.

She asked me what happened. Why did we lose track of each other? I said in those days, with no email, she moved to Israel and I stayed behind. It was harder to work at staying in touch and just easier to let things drop and occasionally hear about her fro...

Insights on the traditions of Jewish burial and the subsequent mourning period.

Sometimes love is not measured by a capacity to give, but rather by a capacity to receive...