Attitudes toward death in Judaism - the mourning rites

Abstract

Comprehension of life and death in Judaism is manifested through a number of religious and ritual procedures. A complex set of mourning rites present in the Jewish culture is entirely regulated by religious rules and partially intertwined with the modes of behaviour and beliefs transferred from pagan societies which lived at a lower level of social organization. In earlier historical and cultural phases of social and economic development, the death of one member of the community affected the community as a whole. The behaviour and the way emotions were to be expressed by the closest relatives and by the broader community were prescribed by the Torah. The broader community extended its help to the ones in mourning so that they could face their grief, express it, and, ultimately, try and find spiritual peace before the inevitable fact that the person they loved died. In the Torah, different aspects of mourning were discussed: mourning of children for their parents, of parents for their children, mourning of other members of the family or the community, etc. These rules were worked out in time in order to ensure better care and tender comfort, first for the dying, and then for the ones in mourning.