A companion through the year of mourning
When you lose someone, Jewish tradition hands you a structure — shiva, shloshim, eleven months of Kaddish, the yahrzeit — and almost nobody explains it. This journey walks the year with you, one short lesson at a time, in a measured voice built for grief.
The first week
Why we sit shiva, the torn garment, the meal of consolation, what to say and what not to — one gentle lesson each day.
Shloshim
The thirty days: returning to the world without pretending nothing happened.
The months of Kaddish
Why the mourner's prayer never mentions death, learning Mishnah in their memory, and the sources under eleven months.
The first yahrzeit
Converting the date, lighting the candle, and marking a year — with the next ten yahrzeit dates computed for you.
Every source is real
Each day of the journey is grounded in a verified text — Torah, Mishnah, Talmud, Rambam, Shulchan Arukh — cited and openable. Nothing invented, ever.
Supporting a mourner? A gift of Derekh Pro covers their year of learning.
Questions
What is the Mourner's Kaddish?
A prayer in Aramaic praising God, said by mourners at services for eleven months after the loss of a parent (thirty days for other relatives) and on each yahrzeit. It never mentions death — the tradition understands saying it as an act of merit for the soul.
How long is shiva?
Seven days from burial, counted with the burial day as day one. Mourners stay home while the community comes to them — the visit itself is the comfort.
What is a yahrzeit and how do I find the date?
The anniversary of a death on the Hebrew calendar, observed yearly with Kaddish and a memorial candle. Because the Hebrew calendar is lunisolar, the civil date moves each year — the yahrzeit calculator converts it for the next ten years.
What is learning Mishnah in someone's memory?
A classic practice: studying Mishnah as a merit for the soul of the deceased (the letters of 'Mishnah' rearrange to 'neshamah', soul). The journey includes a Mishnah track you can dedicate to their name.
How do I say the Mourner's Kaddish?
Kaddish is said standing, with a minyan (ten adults), traditionally at each daily service. The words are Aramaic, and no Hebrew background is assumed — the journey teaches the prayer line by line, what each phrase means, and the rhythm of the congregation's responses, so the first time you stand to say it you know what you're saying.