Jewish Insights into Mourning and Loss
Rabbi David Woznica
As we prepared to mark Tisha B’Av this weekend, our Rabbi David Woznica used his Shabbat sermon to speak about how Judaism approaches mourning, both the personal and the communal. Our tradition, Rabbi Woznica teaches, is filled with love and understanding in the wake of loss. The closest relatives of a deceased loved one — called the “Onen” — are given space and reprieve, as they are exempted from certain mitzvot in the immediate aftermath. From that understanding of and deference to the individual, Judaism then prescribes steps to ease mourners into the world of the living through the first seven days, the first 30 days, the first year, and beyond, all the while surrounded by the love of their community.
In acknowledging the profound and personal trauma of loss and providing a road back, our tradition wants us to mourn (whether we want to or not), and gives us a methodology to do so, all while reminding us that we are still among the living.
August 5, 2022 | 8 Av, 5782