Editing Shiva (Judaism) (section)

==="Sitting" ''shiva''===

"Sitting" ''shiva'' refers to the act of sitting on low stools during times of mourning. As mentioned in the [[Book of Job]], upon mourning, Job's friends "sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights".<ref name="Job2:13" /> Therefore, originally, individuals who were observing a period of mourning were required to turn couches or beds over and sit on the ground.<ref>{{cite book |first=Harry |last=Rabinowicz |title=A Guide to Life&nbsp;— Jewish Laws and Customs of Mourning |year=1964 |publisher=Jewish Chronicle Publications |location=London |page=60}}</ref> After time, modifications towards this rule were made. The ''[[Halakhah]]'' states that an individual is required to sit on low stools, or on the floor. The individual partakes in sitting on a low stool in order to signify their lack of concern for personal comfort during their time of mourning.<ref>{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Yamin |title=Journey Through Grief |year=2003 |publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc. |location=Jersey City, NJ |isbn=0-88125-802-4 |page=98}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A Guide to Jewish Mourning Laws and Practices |url=http://images.shulcloud.com/618/uploads/PDFs/mourning5.pdf |access-date=November 30, 2019}}</ref>

Mourning finds its expression in the sorrow and anguish of the soul and in symbolic, external actions. Different communities have practised different customs during the actual process of "sitting" ''shiva''. [[Sephardic Jews]] no longer sit whilst draped in their [[Tallit]], but [[Yemenite Jews]] still follow the ancient Jewish custom of sitting seven days whilst draped in a Tallit.  The practice is alluded to in the [[Talmud]] (''[[Mo'ed Katan]]''),<ref>[[Babylonian Talmud]] (''Mo'ed Katan'' 15a). In [[Menachem Meiri|Meiri]]'s commentary, ''Beit ha-Beḥirah'' (''ibid''. s.v. '''אבל חייב בעטיפת הראש'''), he writes: "The mourner requires having his head covered, so that he will not remain bare-headed; his head being draped in such a way that part of his face is covered in front of his eyes, as well as below in front of his lip, so that he might appear as a man brought under submission and broken. Insofar that God has said to Ezekiel <small>(Ezek. 24:17)</small> [at a time of joy], 'Do not lay a covering upon your moustache,' we learn the reverse of what the entire world is required to do [when they are in mourning]."</ref> and in the writings of the early rabbinic authorities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maimonides |author-link=Maimonides |title=Sefer Mishneh Torah - HaYad Ha-Chazakah (Maimonides' Code of Jewish Law) |publisher=Pe'er HaTorah |volume=7 |date=1974|location=Jerusalem |language=he}}, s.v. ''Hilkot Avel'' 5:19</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Yehudai Gaon |author-link=Yehudai Gaon|title=Sefer Halachot Pesukot |publisher=Ahavat Shalom |location=Jerusalem |year=1999 |oclc=42433185|page=429 |language=he }}, s.v. ''Hilkot Avel''</ref><ref>[[Joseph Karo]], ''[[Shulchan Arukh]]'' (''Yoreh De'ah'' 386:1)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kiara |first=S. |author-link=Shimon Kiara |title=Sefer Halachot Gedolot|editor=Ezriel Hildesheimer |volume=1 |publisher=Ḥevrat meḳiṣei nirdamim |date=1972 |location=Jerusalem|language=he|title-link=Halachot Gedolot }}, Hil. ''Avel'' (p. 439)</ref>

{{cquote|…and he (i.e. the mourner) requires uncovering his head. What is meant by uncovering the head? It is exposing the hair and exposing the head from [being covered] by his hat or his [[Sudra (headdress)|habit]], or similar things, and [allowing himself only to be] draped as the draping of the Ishmaelites, as we cite [concerning the leper] <small>(Lev. 13:45)</small>: ‘And his head shall be bare’…<ref>{{Citation |contribution=Me'ah She'arim |title=Sefer Sha'arei Simchah |last=Ibn Ghiyyat |author-link=Isaac ibn Ghiyyat |editor=Yitzḥaq Dov Halevi Bomberger |publisher=Simcha Halevi|place=Firta (Fürth)|volume=1 |year=1861 |oclc=780181558 }}, s.v. “Hilkoth Avel” (Laws concerning the Mourner), pp. 46–47</ref><ref>Cf. [[Targum Onkelos]] on Leviticus 13:45, where he writes similarly about an ancient mourner's practice of covering one's moustache with his [[tallit]]: "…and he shall cover-up his moustache like a mourner, etc." Rabbi [[David Kimchi]] writes in his commentary on Ezekiel 24:17: "The mourner requires uncovering his head, from [wearing] his hat, but drapes himself with his habit. By covering up one's moustache together with one's head, it is a sign of mourning."</ref>}}

Among [[Ashkenazi]] and Sephardic communities the practice is now obsolete, they adhering to the [[Poskim|adjudicators]] of Jewish law that have come of late (''[[Bayis Chadash|Bayit Chadash]]'', the ''[[Turei Zahav|Ṭurei Zahav]]'', and ''[[Shabbatai HaKohen|Siftei Cohen]]'') and who have canceled the custom, writing thus: "And at this time, there is no custom of covering up one's head, so that it may not lead to frivolity. In any case, the hat should be pulled over one's eyes."<ref>{{Citation |contribution=Ancient Customs of the Yemenite Jewish Community |title=Ascending the Palm Tree: An Anthology of the Yemenite Jewish Heritage|last1=Ratzaby|first1=Yehuda|editor1=Rachel Yedid|editor2=Danny Bar-Maoz|publisher=E'ele BeTamar|place=Rehovot|page=53 |year=2018 |language=en |oclc=1041776317 }}</ref> The only ones who continue to observe the custom are the Jews of Yemen.