Tag: Mourning

Why We Study Mishnah To Grieve Someone Who Has Died

There is a custom of learning and reciting chapters of Mishnah as part of the mourning process. Where does this come from? How does this ...
List of Mishnah Chapters by Hebrew letter

List of Mishnah Chapters by First Letter

One mourning practice is to use the first letters of chapters of Mishnah to spell out the name of the deceased. Here is a list ...
Why Does Tisha B'Av Get So Much Play At Camp?

Why Does Tisha B’Av Get So Much Play at Camp?

Tisha B'Av at camp is unlike anywhere else in the Jewish world. So why does Tisha B'Av get so much play at camp?
Mourning a Miscarriage

Mourning a Miscarriage

While there are no specific rituals for mourning a miscarriage, there are practices and rituals to use in that time that can help healing.

A Yom HaZikaron like no other… God-willing

Yom HaZikaron is different this year. Our troops are still falling and getting wounded. The sense of loss and mourning is not theoretical.
Through My Children’s Eyes: Yom HaAtzmaut & Yom HaZikaron

Through My Children’s Eyes: Yom HaAtzmaut & Yom HaZikaron

Rabbi Rackover reflects on Yom HaZikkaron and Yom HaAtzmaut: For the first time, my daughter was afraid to share her Jewish identity. My heart broke.
How Mourning Changes You

How Mourning Changes You

Pulling on a conversation between Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper about mourning, learn about how mourning can change you.
Remembering Our Loved Ones Before Us

Remembering Our Loved Ones Before Us

When our loved ones die, who remembers those they remembered? Here's a way to remember all of those that came before us.
Mourning: A Rabbi's Own Perspective

Mourning: A Rabbi’s Own Perspective

A rabbi, familiar with leading others through the process of mourning, goes through the same. Rabbi David Baum remembers his mother.
What do I do if I can't go to minyan when saying kaddish?

What do I do if I can’t go to minyan when saying kaddish?

Saying Kaddish for a loved one is a cherished and prized custom, but it is not the only way to remember and honor the lives ...

Yahrzeit: The Jewish Anniversary of Someone’s Death

Yahrzeit should be a day given over to remembering and honoring an individual for whom one once sat shivah and is learning to live without.

What is Yizkor?

Yizkor consists of a collection of readings and recitations revolving around two central prayers: Yizkor prayers, and the El Malei Rachamim.

Tombstone Customs in Judaism

Tombstone customs in Judaism stem from the religious obligation to mark a grave. This is traditionally done with tombstones or stone markers.
Mourners torn clothing

Aninut: What Should Mourners Do Until Burial

The period from the time of death until burial is known as aninut - the customs of the mourners during the initial stages of bereavement. ...

What is Sheloshim?

Shloshim are the thirty days that follows the week of shivah and is considered a period of reduced mourning.
Floating candle

What is Shivah?

The word shivah refers to the seven days of mourning that follow the burial of a parent, child, sibling, or spouse.
Yom Kippur Yizkor Service

Yom Kippur Yizkor Service

The Memorial Service, Yizkor, is recited on Yom Kippur, one of four times throughout the year, to remember loved ones and Jewish martyrs.
Blurry image of a calendar on the right with the words to the left that read: What is Counting the Omer

What is Counting the Omer

Counting the omer reflects the agricultural dimension of Passover and Shavuot and this is how we observe sefirat haomer today.