Death and mourning

Rituals and music

By Ephraim Kahn

As with all stages of Jewish life, the end of life is accompanied by precise rituals that combine liturgical texts, symbolic gestures, and, more rarely, music. According to Jewish tradition, the deceased is returned to the earth as soon as possible, ideally on the day of death itself.

During the funeral (levaya, literally “accompaniment”), several psalms are recited to evoke the fragility of human life, such as the verse Enoch (Psalm 103:15 “Man, his days are like grass…”), set to music by Louis Lewandowski.

Enoch – Louis Lewandowski – Adolphe Attia (Extract)

After the funeral, the family gathers to mourn together for the first few days. The first week is called shivʿa, which literally means “seven,” because it is a seven-day period marked by the presence of the family at the deceased’s home. As soon as the death is announced, the loved ones of the deceased tear off their garment in a gesture called qeriʿa – a garment they continue to wear throughout the shivʿa. They also abstain from washing, working, and generally any distracting activity during these seven days.

During this time, relatives and friends visit the bereaved to show their support and console them (Niḥum avelim) with the traditional formula: “HaMaqom yenaḥem etkhem betokh she-ar avele Tsiyon viYrushalayim” (“May the Lord console you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem”).

Thirty days after the death, a new stage (sheloshim, literally “thirty”) begins, with a relaxation of the mourning rules. In the case of the death of a parent or child, the restrictions continue until the first anniversary of the death.

The Recitation of Kaddish

Kaddish^[1]sometimes written Qaddish is a prayer in Jewish Aramaic praising the name of God. Its content has no particular connection with death. However, the text has become symbolic of the memory of a deceased loved one. The amalgam is so deep-rooted that, in Yiddish, a father may introduce his son as “Mayn Kadish” (My Kaddish).

There are several forms of Kaddish. One is the Kaddish Yatom (orphan’s Kaddish, commonly known as the mourner’s Kaddish), recited by a close relative of the deceased. Recitation continues until the end of the eleventh month. On each Hebrew anniversary of the death – called yortsayt (in Yiddish), zgir (in Judeo-Arabic) or meldado (in Ladino) – the Kaddish is recited once again. The recitation is generally unaccompanied, although many musical compositions have been written around this prayer.

Kaddish Yatom – Cantor Pinchas Rabinovicz

Kaddish (Sacred Service) – Darius Milhaud (Excerpt)

Kaddish (Cantata Mahzor Hayim) – Itai Daniel (Excerpt)

One custom relating to the anniversary of a death is to light a candle that will only be extinguished at the end of the 24 hours of that day. This custom found an unexpected musical expression in the first talkie film, The Jazz Singer, when cantor Yossele Rosenblatt sings the Yiddish song Yahrtzayt licht (“Death Anniversary Candle”), which begins with the first sentence of the Kaddish intoned with force and emotion.

Excerpt from the film The Jazz Singer

Other texts are also read in memory of deceased loved ones. In the Ashkenazi tradition, the Yizkor prayer (“May He remember”) is recited in synagogue on the feasts of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot (and its second part – Shemini Atzeret), as well as Yom Kippur, by those who have lost a relative. It’s a solemn moment of individual remembrance of the deceased, practiced collectively and scrupulously observed in Ashkenazi communities.

Finally, certain prayers are linked to the commemoration of collective and tragic deaths. Av haRaḥamim (“Father of mercies”) is recited every Shabbat in remembrance of Jewish communities destroyed in the Middle Ages. El Male Raḥamim (“God, full of mercies”), is a prayer addressed to God for the repose of the soul of one or more deceased; it is often sung at commemorative ceremonies, particularly in memory of victims of the Holocaust or terrorist attacks.