learning

During aninut, the phase between death and burial, the despairing mourner is freed of ritual obligations.

The actions required of mourners following the death of close relatives help them to confront the reality of the death, to work through feelings of ambivalence, and to express grief and anger.

The specific prohibitions on mourners during the shiva period reflect the mourner's sense of estrangement from the life force.

Mourning customs reflect the depersonalization and distance from God experienced by the mourner who has just confronted the death of a close relative.

Shabbat, the rainbow after the flood, and brit milah are three covenantal "signs" which God provides.

Naming a child can reflect ancestry, associations with the baby's arrival, and hopes and dreams for his or her future.

Christianity has a long history in the Land of Israel.

A changing organization for a changing student body.

New information about the economic and religious lives of medieval Jewish women.

An Italian Jew records his impressions of Cairo and its Jews in the late fifteenth century.