In Judaism, shiva is a seven-day mourning period for relatives of someone who has died. During this period, mourners remain at home and family and friends visit those in mourning to pray and grieve with them. Common customs include covering mirrors so that mourners focus on grieving rather than themselves; reading the book of Job while sitting on the ground or low stools; and reciting prayers like the kaddish and the mourner’s prayer. In The Immortalists, the Golds observe shiva following Saul’s death.
Shiva Quotes in The Immortalists
The The Immortalists quotes below are all either spoken by Shiva or refer to Shiva. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
In New York, he would live for them, but in San Francisco, he could live for himself. And though he does not like to think about it, though he in fact avoids the subject pathologically, he allows himself to think it now: What if the woman on Hester Street is right? The mere thought turns his life a different color; it makes everything feel urgent, glittering, precious.
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Shiva Term Timeline in The Immortalists
The timeline below shows where the term Shiva appears in The Immortalists. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...away, and Daniel, only 20, greets guests and leads prayers in their home during the shiva. Klara cleans the kitchen, and Simon takes care of Gertie. Gertie sits shiva with a...
(full context)
...that Saul’s attention to him was contingent on Simon’s involvement in the business. At the shiva, Arthur and Gertie grieve together, but they thank God for Simon.
(full context)
On the last night of shiva, the siblings gather together in the attic while Gertie sleeps. Daniel and Varya are leaving...
(full context)
Chapter 36
...Gertie about the fortune teller and the siblings’ conversation on the last night of Saul’s shiva—the last night the four of them were together. Gertie is aghast at how they could...
(full context)
