51�Թ�

Helplessness is the gateway to grief, and to grieve – at a wake, during shivah, in a chance encounter at the store – is to talk, to bear witness to the loss until you have absorbed it.

Its norms are now as well defined as the protocols for sitting shivah or effectuating a Tibetan burial.

The marketing was fine, save for the amusing fact that the trailer for the “family forced to sit shivah” comedy omits all references to judaism.

As it turns out, making a movie about four siblings reluctantly coming home to sit shivah, the weeklong Jewish mourning ritual, is not unlike being held captive at a real family gathering–minus the snacks.

From getting me on the plane to keeping in touch with me while I was home sitting shivah, they could not have been more compassionate.