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"El Maleh Rachamim" – a prayer This prayer was mentioned in the story as part of the burial ceremony. The storyteller sees on television a mother who is in mourning after her son has died in the war in Lebanon. While the mother was crying and was being tormented with heartaches, the Rabbi was reading the prayer "El Maleh Rachamim" - which means "God full of Mercy". "Shiv'ah" – a mourning custom "Shiv'ah" means 'seven' in Hebrew, and the term refers to the seven days of mourning that are counted from the day of the burial on. The mourners go from the cemetery to the deceased's home and stay there for seven consecutive days. It is customary that the close family members sit together in the house and welcome the visitors who come to console and condole them. The custom is that the visitors should start coming on the fourth day only, since the first three days are dedicated to inner communion and seclusion of the mourners in grief. What happens if a holiday occurs during the "Shiv'ah"? If one of the five holidays which are mentioned in the Bible: Passover, Shavuot, Succot, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur occurs during the "Shiv'ah", the mourners will stop their mourning practices an hour before the holiday starts and they will be exempt from continuing the "Shiv'ah" after the holiday ends. The mourning will be cancelled even if it lasts only several minutes until the holiday begins. "Shofar" – a ram's horn The Shofar is a hollow ram's horn which is bent and curved up. In Judaism the Shofar is used as a wind instrument which the user blows into. It is customary to blow the ram's horn on Rosh Hashana holiday to designate the holiday as a judgment day.
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