Mourning & Mitzvah: A Guided Journal for Walking the Mourner's Path Through Grief to Healing

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful help in the time of mourning...
Review: "Mourning and Mitzvah" by Anne Brener has been so much of a help to me! I couldn't find any literature to guide me through the mourning process, as American society barely acknowledges death any more. Nor do we have any organized mourning customs to help those who grieve through their pain--as past generations in this country have had.

This book, though written primarily for those of Jewish faith, helped me more than anything written from my own Catholic religious tradition. Other books I had read suggested keeping a journal or meditating on different aspects of life with the one lost. Trouble is, that "keeping a journal" or "meditating" without guidance when one isn't used to doing these things, can be more confusing and painful to someone who is grieving than doing absolutely nothing at all. And it was in this situation I found myself.

This book gently guides the mourner through a series of easy to follow steps to keeping a journal, meditating, performing little ceremonies like lighting candles for the loved one--things that I found immensely comforting. At the same time, however, I was able to go deep within myself and confront the pain of my loss...and work through it, to a point where I was more able to cope with life, and motivate myself to continue living.

Anne Brener's book has been a wonderful help in this time of mourning. I am most happy to recommend this book to anyone who is confused and frightened like I was. "Mourning and Mitzvah" is a beautiful guide on the road back from darkness to light.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful help in the time of mourning...
Review: "Mourning and Mitzvah" by Anne Brener has been so much of a help to me! I couldn't find any literature to guide me through the mourning process, as American society barely acknowledges death any more. Nor do we have any organized mourning customs to help those who grieve through their pain--as past generations in this country have had.

This book, though written primarily for those of Jewish faith, helped me more than anything written from my own Catholic religious tradition. Other books I had read suggested keeping a journal or meditating on different aspects of life with the one lost. Trouble is, that "keeping a journal" or "meditating" without guidance when one isn't used to doing these things, can be more confusing and painful to someone who is grieving than doing absolutely nothing at all. And it was in this situation I found myself.

This book gently guides the mourner through a series of easy to follow steps to keeping a journal, meditating, performing little ceremonies like lighting candles for the loved one--things that I found immensely comforting. At the same time, however, I was able to go deep within myself and confront the pain of my loss...and work through it, to a point where I was more able to cope with life, and motivate myself to continue living.

Anne Brener's book has been a wonderful help in this time of mourning. I am most happy to recommend this book to anyone who is confused and frightened like I was. "Mourning and Mitzvah" is a beautiful guide on the road back from darkness to light.

Rating:
Summary: This is an amazing book!
Review: After the death of my mother last month, I was engulfed with intense feelings of sorrow, guilt and regret -- levels of emotion that I had not felt with the death of other close relatives. To help come to terms with this inner turmoil and a weak network of support, I read many books: Jewish and Buddhist Spirituality, Death and Dying and pschologically-oriented (10 at last count)and found moments of solace with most. At the same time, I started my own grief journal as an outlet for my daily angst. However, my thinking and emotions were in chaos (normal at this stage of mourning). Then I discovered Mourning and Mitvah where I found a means to blend spirituality and psychology in an active, organic way. Anne Brener's beautifully written book created a forum to explore Jewish thought and ritual(I was raised a secular Jew) where I could interact through the use of many thought-provoking guided exercises. The process orientation of the work constructed a comforting, safe p! ath to follow on my own terms. Even though written from a Jewish perspective, I recommend this book for those from other religuous or no religious traditions. There is a global spirituality and psychology infused in the thoughts and concepts of Mourning and Mitvah. I have even discovered a nascent desire to re-investigate Judaism. I know I am at the beginning of my mourning and still feel extreme shifts in emotional states but I will continue to use this book as my lifeboat for this very unhappy vogage to self-discovery and consolation.

Rating:
Summary: This is an amazing book!
Review: After the death of my mother last month, I was engulfed with intense feelings of sorrow, guilt and regret -- levels of emotion that I had not felt with the death of other close relatives. To help come to terms with this inner turmoil and a weak network of support, I read many books: Jewish and Buddhist Spirituality, Death and Dying and pschologically-oriented (10 at last count)and found moments of solace with most. At the same time, I started my own grief journal as an outlet for my daily angst. However, my thinking and emotions were in chaos (normal at this stage of mourning). Then I discovered Mourning and Mitvah where I found a means to blend spirituality and psychology in an active, organic way. Anne Brener's beautifully written book created a forum to explore Jewish thought and ritual(I was raised a secular Jew) where I could interact through the use of many thought-provoking guided exercises. The process orientation of the work constructed a comforting, safe p! ath to follow on my own terms. Even though written from a Jewish perspective, I recommend this book for those from other religuous or no religious traditions. There is a global spirituality and psychology infused in the thoughts and concepts of Mourning and Mitvah. I have even discovered a nascent desire to re-investigate Judaism. I know I am at the beginning of my mourning and still feel extreme shifts in emotional states but I will continue to use this book as my lifeboat for this very unhappy vogage to self-discovery and consolation.

Rating:
Summary: GET THIS BOOK-KEEP COPIES ON HAND
Review: Get this book. Can be: read out-of-order; in small chunks; worked through mentally or on paper; put down for a few days/weeks while you're processing your grief; appreciated by Jewish folk as well as by the non-Jewish person, by the spiritual as well as those who are not so inclined. In the most difficult of situations, Mourning and Mitzvah offers comfort for the bereaved. The author speaks from her own experience: her sister died in an accident only months after their mother's suicide. Mourning and Mitzvah helped me to cope after the deaths of my father- and mother-in-law (hers was a suicide; both died the same day). I've given copies as gifts to others in my Survivors of Suicide group, to a woman whose brother-in-law murdered her sister by running the sister down with his car, and to a family whose young son was killed in a freak accident while on vacation. Almost all have let me know what a help this book has been. Since I give away my personal copies, I now order two at a time. Please get this book for yourself and/or for your loved ones who are grieving; keep extras on hand. Mourning and Mitzvah will be appreciated much more than any covered dish you could get or give.