Like so much of Jewish ritual, the rites and regulations surrounding death and grieving are highly structured. Tevi Troy explains why that’s a good thing:

By giving mourners specific roles, duties, and assignments, the formal practices can help the bereaved strengthen bonds and get support in the most painful early periods of loss.

In a profound and deeply touching ritual, when throwing dirt on the coffin, the bereaved begin with the flat or wrong side of the shovel, to show their reluctance to bury the dead. After that initial—and ineffectual—first shovel, they flip over the implement and do it the standard way. Friends and family line up to help fill the hole. . . .

The year of saying the kaddish prayer three times a day [following the death of a close relative] is a challenging one and can interfere with one’s regular schedule. By the time it is over, one feels relief. When I explained the entire process to a Catholic friend, he said to me, “Even for a Catholic that sounds like a lot.” It is indeed, but the formal rituals also help lead us, as a community, through the valley of the shadow of death that has been far too prevalent in recent days.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.