Resources

Akhlah: The Jewish Children’s Learning Network
Hebrew online Keyboard

Oneg and Shabbat Services Schedule

Join us for Sabbath evening services, Friday at 7:30 p.m. in our sanctuary and through zoom

All zoom sessions are ID# 155 810 1107. Password “valdosta “

torah

Emor

In Leviticus 21:1, God speaks to Moses and tells him to inform the priests, the sons of Aaron, לְנֶפֶשׁ לֹא יִטַּמָּא בְּעַמָּיו, no priest shall contaminate himself to a dead person among the Jewish people. In the verses that follow, the Torah notes that there are exceptions for members of the priest’s immediate family who pass away, in which instance the priest may contaminate him-self and attend their funerals and even their burial. The priest’s seven closest relatives are: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, virgin sister, and of course, wife.

The Jewish mourning rituals generally consist of three and, at times, four stages. From the moment of death until the burial, mourners are regarded as אונְנִים—Onanim, intense mourners. By biblical law, Onanim are forbidden to eat meat, drink wine, and in the case of males, to perform certain mitzvot such as putting on talit and tefillin and being counted to a Minyan. As a sign of distress, they are also required to rend their garments. The second stage of mourning is known as the שִׁבְעָה—Shiva, the rabbinically mandated seven-day period during which mourners refrain from washing themselves, shaving and taking haircuts, sitting on a regular chair, or wearing leather shoes. This is followed by the third stage, known as שְׁלוֹשִׁים—Sheloshim, literally 30, which starts with the end of the Shiva and continues until the 30th day after the death, during which time the prohibition continues for the mourner to shave or cut one’s hair. In the case of the loss of a parent, there is a fourth stage, a period of eleven months following the 30-day Shloshim period, during which all festivities are avoided. Additionally, until the end of the eleventh month from the time of death, children customarily recite the קַדִּישׁ‎–Kaddish mourner’s prayer at the daily communal prayers.