{"id":120316,"date":"2025-05-08T11:06:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T09:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iemj.org\/le-deces-et-le-deuil\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T10:53:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T08:53:40","slug":"le-deces-et-le-deuil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iemj.org\/en\/le-deces-et-le-deuil\/","title":{"rendered":"Death and mourning"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

By Ephraim Kahn<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

Enoch<\/em> – Louis Lewandowski – Adolphe Attia (Extract)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"After the funeral, the family gathers to mourn together for the first few days. The first week is called shiv\u02bfa<\/em>, 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 qeri\u02bfa<\/em> – a garment they continue to wear throughout the shiv\u02bfa. They also abstain from washing, working, and generally any distracting activity during these seven days.<\/p>\n

During this time, relatives and friends visit the bereaved to show their support and console them (Ni\u1e25um avelim<\/em>) with the traditional formula: “HaMaqom yena\u1e25em etkhem betokh she-ar avele Tsiyon viYrushalayim” (“May the Lord console you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem”).<\/p>\n

Thirty days after the death, a new stage (sheloshim<\/em>, 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.<\/p>\n

The Recitation of Kaddish<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kaddish[1]<\/sup><\/a>sometimes written Qaddish<\/span><\/span>