Bereavement in Judaism

[2] Upon receiving the news of the death, the following blessing is recited: Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, dayan ha-emet.

Usually the funeral ceremony is brief and includes the recitation of psalms, followed by a eulogy (hesped), and finishes with a traditional closing prayer, the El Maleh Rachamim.

[8] Yemenite Jews, prior to their return to the land of Israel, maintained an ancient practice during the funeral procession to halt at, at least, seven stations before the actual burial of the dead, beginning from the entrance of the house from whence the bier is taken, to the graveyard itself.

[15][16] In the instance when a mourner receives the news of the death and burial of a relative after an elapsed period of 30 days or more, there is no keriah, or tearing of the garment, except in the case of a parent.

[25] The family of deceased may then be comforted by other mourners with the formula: In the 21st century, as space has become scarce in Israeli cemeteries, the ancient practice of burying a person for one year, then exhuming their bones for burial in a smaller plot, has been reestablished.

Thus the onen is exempt from performing mitzvot that require action (and attention), such as praying and reciting blessings, wearing tefillin (phylacteries), in order to be able to tend unhindered to the funeral arrangements.

An avel ("mourner") does not listen to music or go to concerts, and does not attend any joyous events or parties such as marriages or bar or bat mitzvahs, unless absolutely necessary.

Visitors will traditionally take on the hosting role when attending a Shiva, often bringing food and serving it to the mourning family and other guests.

A popular custom amongst Orthodox Jews is to coordinate a group of people who will jointly study the complete Mishnah during the shloshim period.

[29] Those mourning a parent additionally observe a twelve-month period (Hebrew: שנים עשר חודש, shneim asar chodesh, "twelve months"), counted from the day of death.

During this period, most activity returns to normal, although the mourners continue to recite the Kaddish as part of synagogue services for eleven months.

Although there is no halakhic obligation to hold an unveiling ceremony (the ritual became popular in many communities toward the end of the 19th century), there are varying customs about when it should be placed on the grave.

Gesher HaChaim cites (chapters) "33, 16, 17, 72, 91, 104, and 130; then one says Psalm 119 and recites the verses that spell the name of the deceased and the letters of the word Neshama.".

"[37] Jewish communities in Yemen, prior to their immigration to the Land of Israel, did not place headstones over the graves of the dead, except only on rare occasions, choosing rather to follow the dictum of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel who said: "They do not build monuments (i.e. tombstones) for the righteous.

[40] In contrast, the more recent custom of Spanish Jewry, following the teachings of Yitzhak Luria (Shaʿar Ha-Mitzvot, Parashat Vayeḥi), is to build tombstones over the grave, seeing it as part of the complete atonement and amendment for those who have died.

Among many Orthodox Jews it has become customary to make a siyum by completing a tractate of Talmud or a volume of the Mishnah on the day prior to the Yahrtzeit, in the honor of the deceased.

Some have a custom to visit the cemetery on fast days (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 559:10) and before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (581:4, 605), when possible, and for a Yahrzeit.

In Biblical times, gravestones were not used; graves were marked with mounds of stones (a kind of cairn), so by placing (or replacing) them, one perpetuated the existence of the site.

The primary prayer in the Yizkor service is El Malei Rachamim, in which God is asked to remember and grant repose to the souls of the departed.

For this reason, Jews will do mitzvot for the elevation of the soul (L'Illui NishMat – לעלוי נשמת, sometimes abbreviated LI"N (לע"נ)) of a person who passed away, even for a stranger.

Though not limited to any mitzvah, Aliyos (elevation) are often done through: The Hebrew name of the deceased is commonly mentioned alongside these acts, or printed in said books or placed on a placard next to consumables – with the exception of kaddish.

At first a Hassidic custom, at first deriving from making a siyum on the yahrzeit, nowadays practised without one with the intention that the bracha said over the food brings an aliya.

"True Kindness" – איתור חילוץ והצלה), is a community emergency response team in the State of Israel, officially recognized by the government.

Members of ZAKA, most of whom are Orthodox, assist ambulance crews, identify the victims of terrorism, road accidents and other disasters and, where necessary, gather body parts and spilled blood for proper burial.

Formed in 1854 for the purpose of "…procuring a piece of ground suitable for the purpose of a burying ground for the deceased of their own faith, and also to appropriate a portion of their time and means to the holy cause of benevolence…," the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles established the first Jewish cemetery in Los Angeles at Lilac Terrace and Lookout Drive[63] in Chavez Ravine (current home to Dodger Stadium).

[64] In 1902, because of poor environmental conditions due to the unchecked expansion of the oil industry in the area, it was proposed by Congregation B'nai B'rith to secure a new plot of land in what is now East LA, and to move the buried remains to the new site, with a continued provision for burial of indigent people.

Judaism stresses burial in the earth (including entombment, as in caves) as a religious duty of laying a person's remains to rest.

Furthermore, if reasonable doubt exists that the death was suicidal or that the deceased might have changed her mind and repented at the last moment (e.g., if it is unknown whether the victim fell or jumped from a building, or if the person falling changed her mind mid-fall), the benefit of the doubt is given and regular burial and mourning rituals take place.

Lastly, the suicide of a minor is considered a result of a lack of understanding ("da'at"), and in such a case, regular mourning is observed.

Since those tattoos were forced upon the recipients in a situation where any resistance could expect official murder or brutality, their presence is not in any way reflective of any violation of Jewish law on the part of both the living and deceased; rather under these circumstances it shows adherence to the positive command to preserve innocent life, including one's own, by passively allowing the mark to be applied.