Sit shiva/ to observe the seven days of mourning
To observe the customs of mourning during the seven-day period after the death of a close family member.
("Rabbi Hisda said: A person's soul mourns for him for all seven days, as it is said, 'and his soul shall mourn over him.' And it is written (Genesis 50): 'and he made mourning for his father seven days.' Rabbi Yehudah said: For one who dies with no mourners, ten people go and sit in his place" - Shabbat 152a, and similarly: "And in the whole inn there was no one except a single traveler who had suffered bereavement, may the Merciful One protect us, and was sitting shiva" - Agnon, Yesterday, Previously, 376, and similarly: "Jerusalem sits as a house of mourners; it sits shiva, and visitors and comforters do not let her rest, day and night" - Yehuda Amichai, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Why Jerusalem)
Translation
Expression (Hebrew)
יָשַׁב שִׁבְעָה
Definition (Hebrew)
נָהַג מִנְהֲגֵי אֲבֵלוּת בְּשָׁבוּעַ בּוֹ נִפְטַר אָדָם מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ הַקְּרוֹבָה.
("אָמַר רַב חִסְדָּא: נַפְשׁוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם מִתְאַבֶּלֶת עָלָיו כָּל שִׁבְעָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וְנַפְשׁוֹ עָלָיו תֶּאֱבָל. וּכְתִיב (בְּרֵאשִׁית נ) וַיַּעַשׂ לְאָבִיו אֵבֶל שִׁבְעַת יָמִים. אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה: מֵת שֶׁאֵין לוֹ מְנַחֲמִין הוֹלְכִין עֲשָׂרָה בְּנֵי אָדָם וְיוֹשְׁבִין בִּמְקוֹמוֹ"- שַׁבָּת קנב ע"א, וְכֵן:"וְאֵין בְּכָל הָאַכְסַנְיָא כֻּלָּהּ חוּץ מֵאוֹרֵחַ אֶחָד שֶׁאֵרְעוּ אֵבֶל, רַחֲמָנָא לִצְּלַן, וְיוֹשֵׁב שִׁבְעָה"- עַגְנוֹן/ תְּמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם, 376, וְכֵן:"יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יוֹשֶׁבֶת יְשִׁיבַת אֲבֵלִים, הִיא יוֹשֶׁבֶת שִׁבְעָה/ וּמְבַקְּרִים וּמְנַחֲמִים לֹא יִתְּנוּ לָהּ מְנוּחָה,יוֹם וָלֵיל"- יְהוּדָה עַמִּיחַי/ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יְרוּשָׁלַיִם לָמָּה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם)