pare the seudat havra’ah, the meal that begins the process of healing and repair (Greenberg 293). This meal usually consists of bread, hard-boiled eggs, chickpeas and bagels (Robinson 190). The hard-boiled egg symbolizes fertility and reminds the mourners that death is a continuation of the natural cycle (Robinson 190). The other foods are also circular, showing the cycle of life and death (Robinson 190). The seudat havra’ah begins the formal mourning process, called Shiva, which takes its name from the Hebrew word for the length it lasts, seven days (Robinson 190). As with most Jewish customs, sitting Shiva has its roots in the Hebrew Scriptures. Establishing the first seven days as the most intense stage of mourning is based on an interpretation of a verse in Amos (8:10):And I will turn your feasts [which usually lasted seven days] into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son; and the end thereof is a bitter day. (Kolatch 63)Since feasts were celebrated for seven days, this scripture passage suggests that Shiva must last seven days as well (Kolatch 63). Jews also sight Genesis 50:10 which tells of Joseph mourning for his father, Jacob, for seven days (Kolatch 63).Jews follow very specific religious laws during shiva. “A mourner may not leave the house, perform manual labor, conduct business, cohabit, or perform any act of personal adornment,” explains Helen Latner in The Book of Modern Jewish Etiquette (333). Male mourners are required to recite Kaddish, the mourners prayer, each day (Latner 333). Kaddish can only be said when a minyan, or quorum of ten, is present (Latner 333). Therefore the mourner may attend synagogue if there is no minyan to pray with in the house (Latner 333). Alfred J. Kolatch, in his book, The Jewish Book of Why explains the significance of the Ka...
