Jewish Mourning Rites

Jewish funerary and mourning rites are the sequence of halakhic observances that govern the treatment of the dead and the conduct of the bereaved in Judaism, developed from the Hebrew Bible and elaborated by the Mishnah, Talmud and later codes such as the Shulchan Aruch's Yoreh De'ah. Before burial, the chevra kadisha performs tahara, the ritual washing and purification of the body, while a shomer keeps watch over it so it is never left alone. Immediate relatives mark the loss by tearing a garment, a practice called keriah, and observe an intense week of seclusion at home known as shiva, followed by a thirty day period of eased restriction called shloshim, and for the loss of a parent a fuller year of mourning. These stages are distinguished from a single generic bereavement custom by their fixed halakhic sequence and duration, each carrying its own distinct name, obligations and legal source citations in classical rabbinic literature.