In small and isolated Jewish diaspora societies like the Jews of Cochin, a death in any family was a massive loss to the entire community. The emotional response to the bereavement had deep implications on the physical and spiritual well-being of the family and the behavioural, social and hierarchical aspects of the relatives of the deceased and the community at large. Mourning thus became a collective affair and the Cochin Jews codified the rituals to be followed by the family and others to lighten the psychological impact of the loss. Shlomo Mordechai has in this book listed the funeral...