In Judaism, what is the name of the period of seven days of formal mourning for the dead, which begins immediately after the funeral?
Mourning is the Shiva (literally meaning seven), which consists of the first seven days after the funeral. The second stage is the Shloshim (thirty), referring to the thirty days following the death. The period of mourning after the death of a parent lasts one year. Each stage places lighter demands and restrictions than the previous one in order to reintegrate the bereaved into normal life. The most known and central stage is Shiva, which is a Jewish mourning practice in which people adjust their behaviour as an expression of their bereavement for the week immediately after the burial. In the West,
Thursday of the Dead al-amwat" ("week of the dead"). Frederick Jones Bliss' lecture on religions of Syria and Palestine in 1912 noted that Thursday of the Dead formed a part of Muslim mourning practices: "The cemetery may be visited every Thursday after the death occurs and then annually on the Thursday of the dead." The practice of distributing food to the needy by the family of the deceased at the tomb site which begins immediately after their death is considered "rahmy" ("mercy"), and according to the 1892-1893 Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, this practice would continue through until the first Thursday of