you sit shiva for a sibling for seven days.
you sit shiva for a sibling for seven days.
how long do you sit shiva for a sibling?
seven days
shiva (, literally 'seven') is the week-long mourning period in judaism for first-degree relatives. the ritual is referred to as "sitting shiva". traditionally, there are five stages of mourning in judaism. shiva is considered the third stage, and lasts for seven days. following the initial period of despair and lamentation immediately after the death, shiva embraces a time when individuals discuss their loss and accept the comfort of others. its observance is a requirement for the parents, spouses, children, and/or siblings of the person who has died. it is not a requirement for an individual who was less than thirty days old at the time of death. at the funeral, mourners wear an outer garment that is torn before the procession in a ritual known as "keriah". in some traditions, mourners wear a black ribbon that is cut in place of an everyday garment. the torn article is worn throughout the entirety of shiva. typically, the seven days begin immediately after the deceased has been buried. following burial, mourners assume the "halakhic" status of (). it is necessary for the burial spot to be entirely covered with earth in order for shiva to commence. this state lasts for the entire duration of shiva. during the period of shiva, mourners remain at home. friends and family visit those in mourning in order to give their condolences and provide comfort. the process, though dating back to biblical times, mimics the natural way an individual confronts and overcomes grief. shiva allows for the individual to express their sorrow, discuss the loss of a loved one, and slowly re-enter society.
shiva (judaism)
in the past several centuries, the custom developed among ashkenazic orthodox jews (including hassidic and haredi jews), that the family would "sit shiva" if and when one of their relatives would leave the fold of traditional judaism. the definition of "leaving the fold" varies within communities; some would sit "shiva" if a family member married a non-jew; others would only sit "shiva" if the individual actually converted to another faith, and even then, some would make a distinction between those who chose to do so of their own will, and those who were pressured into conversion. (in sholom aleichem's tevye, when the title character's daughter converts to christianity to marry a christian, tevye sits "shiva" for her and generally refers to her as "dead.") at the height of the mitnagdim (anti-hassidic) movement, in the early-to-mid nineteenth century, some mitnagdim even sat "shiva" if a family member joined hassidism. (it is said that when leibel eiger joined hassidism, his father, rabbi shlomo eiger sat "shiva", but his grandfather, the famed rabbi akiva eiger, did not. it is also said that leibel eiger came to be "menachem avel" [console the mourner]). by the mid-twentieth century, however, hassidism was recognized as a valid form of orthodox judaism, and thus the (controversial) practice of sitting "shiva" for those who realign to hassidism ceased to exist.
bereavement in judaism