The Jewish Journey Through Loss

Death is inevitable, and every loss is different. It may leave behind a partner, family, friends, and community, all with no roadmap to navigate the painful months ahead. You may not “get over” the death of a loved one quickly and your life may never feel the same, but you will go on. You will learn to live with your loss as you move forward, and Judaism’s timeless traditions provide much-needed gentle guidance. The Jewish Journey Through Loss: From Death to Healing , written by a clinical psychologist and a Jewish educator, offers a framework to help guide you, step-by-step, through the pain of losing a loved one. It is clear and accessible, with relevant vignettes reflecting the thoughts and feelings of others who have been through this process. The book is based upon Judaism’s traditional practices, which parallel the psychological progression of mourning and the individual’s experience of grief, enabling the mourner to transition from loss through the process of shiva, sheloshim, the first year, and onward. The Jewish Journey Through Loss: From Death to Healing is nothing less than a five-star masterpiece on a topic of universal concern—coping with death and loss and ensuing trauma and grief. Approbation from Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, PhD, Executive Vic President, Emeritus Orthodox Union, Editor-in-Chief, Koren Talmud Bavli: It will be especially helpful to its Jewish audience, dealing, as it does so magnificently, with traditional Judaism’s approach to these existential realities. But the authors broaden their focus far beyond religious sources to the worlds of psychology, thanatology, spirituality, and just plain good advice. The authors, one a clinician with vast, intensive and compassionate experience with those in the throes of loss, and the other an educator with dazzling expertise in Biblical and Halachic literature and practice, offer a sourcebook on their topic in a manner that will not only educate and inform but console and inspire its readers. I particularly admire its range, as it covers sudden death and expected death, death by diseases such as the Covid pandemic, death in battle and death by terrorism. It does not ignore death by suicide and is especially poignant in its treatment of the death of children and dealing with children who themselves struggle with the death of their loved ones. The book offers information and knowledge and expands upon the feelings and emotions that one must expect as one move through the stages of grief and mourning. Especially useful are the tips that dot its pages, offering concrete and practical advice to those who confront the trials and tribulations inherent in the “journey through loss”. Also, helpful are the quotations from many diverse sources, all “on the mark”, which are liberally scattered throughout the book’s hundreds of pages. This is a comprehensive work, which covers “all of the bases”, is well written, neither “preachy” nor overwhelmingly “technical”. I recommend it heartily and congratulate Dr. Batya L Ludman and Gina Junger on a “job well done”.