Book Description

The Jewish mourning process is a voyage through pain, brokenness, comfort, resilience, acceptance, and even gratitude. The Year of Mourning: A Jewish Journey offers an expansive array of resources—stories, songs, study texts, poetry, and prayers—to lovingly and patiently guide the bereaved through the first year after their loss. Each week the mourner is encouraged to focus on a particular theme to deepen their Kaddish practice. The book also includes new rituals for shivah, sh'loshim, unveiling, and yahrzeit. The Year of Mourning helps support individuals to regain their grounding after loss and, through the richness of Jewish tradition, deepen their connections to memories of loved ones and to others in the community who are walking a similar path. "How do mourners get through that empty eternity of their first year without a loved one, that interminable stretch of darkness—perhaps deepening into despair—after shivah ends? Here at last is a way forward: a week-by-week, yearlong pathway through poetry, ritual, music, and the textual wisdom of Jewish tradition, brilliantly conceived and compassionately framed. I recommend it highly for anyone in mourning." —Rabbi Dr. Lawrence A. Hoffman, Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor Emeritus of Liturgy, Worship, and Ritual, Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion "Walking the path of mourning is very much like wandering in the wilderness; familiar landmarks have become obscured, life's structures have crumbled. The Year of Mourning is an invaluable compass for this treacherous path. The editors offer a rich array of spiritual resources—texts, songs and prayers—in a format that will affirm, guide, and comfort readers. I know I will share this book often with those who are touched by grief." —Rabbi Dayle Friedman, MSW, MAJCS, BCC, author of Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older "Grief is a universal human experience; it stimulates spiritual reflection and yearns for a communal response. Rabbi Lisa D. Grant and Cantor Lisa B. Segal have planted important flora on the inevitable path of grief that we all walk. Each page is a place to linger, look, listen, and reflect. Whether this book sits on your lap or you scroll through it on your device, anywhere your eye focuses will bring a moment of nourishment on your journey." —Rabbi Eric Weiss, editor of Mishkan Aveilut: Where Grief Resides "The Year of Mourning is a must-have for every clergyperson. After nearly thirty years of guiding congregants through the grieving process, I finally have an all-in-one resource to offer comfort and support beyond the funeral and shivah. Understanding that everyone grieves differently, the editors have created a collection of individual units that gives mourners the ability to move through at their own pace. This special compilation of music, poetry, and reflective questions is a wonderful resource." —Cantor Claire Franco, Past-President, American Conference of Cantors