In the first two essays we saw three different surprising sources offered by the Yerushalmi for the source of the seven days of shiva: the inauguration of the Mishkan, Miriam’s tzara’at and the seven-day Holiday from the prophecy of Amos. Each of these teaches us an important lesson about the nature of mourning.

From the inauguration of the Mishkan we learn about the holiness of death. From Miriam’s tzara’at we see the importance of being separated from the community to allow the process of healing to begin. From the prophecy of Amos we are reminded that even joyous days can be turned into darkness during this time of people’s lives.

I would like to conclude these introductory essays with an even more radical text. There is a Midrash known as either Lekach Tov or Pesikta Zutarta¹.  

After the death of Jacob, his sons observe a period of mourning for seven days. When the Yerushalmi referred to this text, they were concerned that you could not use a text from before Sinai as a source. Here, the Midrash (פרשת ויחי סימן י) in commenting on that same verse in Bereshit (50:10), asks:

מפני מה האבל שבעת ימים?

Why is the mourning seven days?

The first answer offered by the Midrash appears in other places as well²: 

כנגד ז’ ימי המשתה

Compared to the seven days of festivity [after a wedding]

The seven-day period of mourning, the saddest time in a person’s life, is modeled on what ought to be the happiest time in a person’s life – the week of their wedding. Experiences of great emotional intensity can sometimes feel similar. This may also shed light on the breaking of the glass. At the moment of greatest joy, we are reminded of the greatest loss in Jewish history.

But the Midrash’s next answer, I think, truly captures the power of shiva:

Another answer: compared to the seven days of creation. A person leaves this world that has the seven days of creation.  Therefore, we mourn upon them for seven days…

ד”א כנגד שבעת ימי בראשית.  שאדם נפטר מן העולם שיש בו שבעת ימי בראשית.  לפיכך מתאבל עליו שבעה ימים…

 

Shiva is here a recollection of the seven days of creation. The loss of a human being from this world is an undoing of the act of creation. That spark of the image of God that was in this world is lost in a way that cannot be recovered. The unique neshama that occupied one particular body has left this world. 

When the mourner recites the hallowed words of the Kaddish, part of what might be happening is a plea to bring back that lost spark of the divine that has left this world. 

Summary:
We have seen five different sources that under-gird the idea of shiva for the rabbis:

1. The inauguration of the Mishkan – Holiness
2. The tzara’at of Miriam – Separation
3. The prophecy of Amos – Holidays feel Dark
4. The week of the wedding – Emotional Intensity
5. The week of creation – The Cycle of Life

These five Biblical passage and five disparate themes can be further distilled to two core ideas that repeat themselves in this area of Halakha. The idea of the Holiness of the kohanim and their separation from the community is clearly connected to the metzora’s place outside the camp. One aspect of  holiness (קדושה) is separation.

The remaining three – Amos’ prophecy about the Holidays, the wedding week and the week of creation – remind us that the emotional cycle of life is forever altered when a loved one leaves this world. One might even argue that the disruption of routine which jars people from their workaday lives can itself generate holiness³. 

The week of shiva often feels almost timeless – the home might be full for several hours a day, food arrives at the door, minyanim occupy a living room, and then the house is all of a sudden very quiet. That week of communal cocoon can, for some people, serves to pull them out of their normal lives to offer the opportunity of separation and holiness. It does not always work in that manner, but the rabbinic vision of this week offers us an aspiration.

As we embark on learning these laws, we will continue to refer back to these ideas and themes. There will be times when the Halakha draws out the emotional intensity of people’s experience of loss and times when it seeks to separate the mourner or make meaning from the cycle of life. All of these are important aspects of the Halakhic response to loss and mourning, which we will continue to explore. 

May our words and our deeds uplift the souls of our loved ones.

 

1. This is an 11th-century collection edited by Tobiah ben Eliezer. This Midrash draws on the Bavli, Yerushalmi, Midrash Rabba and the Targumim
2. Tanchuma (Buber) Vayechi 18. Bereishit Rabba Vayechi 100:13 (vilna ed.), 97 (Theodore-Albeck ed.)
3. I understand the danger of this idea, and I still find it very powerful. See the חובת התלמידים, toward the beginning of chapter nine, pages פד-פה where he talks about prayer in response to suffering as a way of connecting to God. See also Rav Shimshon David Pinkus in his שערים בתפילה where he outlines different postures of prayer. In particular his unpacking of ביצור as a method has echoes of Rav Shapira’s claims in the חובת התלמידים.