Introduction
Part 1
LIFE
1. Some North African Fertility and
Pregnancy Customs
2. Protective Charms for the Pregnant
Woman
3. New Mother Impurity
4. Circumcision only while Standing?
5. Circumcision over Earth or over
Water
6. Circumcision as a Form of
Sacrifice
7. Who Drinks the Circumcision Wine
and the Place of Women in Society
8. Women Mohalot
9. The Two Wine Cups of Circumcision
10. One and Twelve Candles at the
Circumcision
11. Tahanun on the Day of the
Circumcision
12. The Third Day after the
Circumcision
13. Aspects of the Redemption of the
Firstborn
14. On the “Reasons” for Customs: The
Halakah
15. The Wimpel
16. The Breaking of Plates during the
Tena'im Ceremony
17. Betrothal Rings
18. Some Wedding Preparations
19. Wedding Dates
20. Fasting on the Wedding Day
21. The “Huppah” — The Wedding
Canopy / Ceremony Appendix: The Nature of the Huppah
22. The Wedding Ring in the Cup of
Wine
23. Throwing a Shoe at a Wedding
24. “Confetti”: The Throwing of Wheat
Kernels at Weddings
25. “How they Dance before the Bride”
26. The Bride's Entry into the Bridal
Suite
27. The Lighting of Candles after the
Wedding
28. The Morning After
29. The Regel Redufin of
Caucasus Jewry
30. The Halitzah Ceremony
31. On Divorce
Part 2
DEATH
1. Omens of Approaching Death
2. The Manner of Sitting while
Visiting the Sick
3. The Moment of Death
4. Asking Posthumous Pardon of the
Dead
5. The Custom of the Deceased's Wife
Passing under the Bier
6. The Firstborn of an Animal in the
Cemetery
7. Opening the Coffin before Burial
8. The Construction of the Coffin in
the Cemetery
9. The Table for the Coffin
10. The Rolling and Overturning of
the Coffin
11. How the Deceased is Laid in his
Grave
12. A Separate Row of Graves for
Women who Died during Childbirth
13. The Direction of Graves
14. The Seven Evil Spirits and the
Seven Funeral Stations
15. Casting Seven Coins next to the
Deceased
16. The Plucking of Grass when
Leaving the Cemetery
17. The Candles, Spices, and Flutes
of the Deceased
18. Kohanim Walking on the
Graves of the Righteous
19. A Kerchief around the Neck of the
Mourner, and the Practice of Covering the Head
20. The Meaning of the Kaddish:
“May His Great Name”
21. The Memorial Candle
22. The Eastern Mourning Practices
23. Mourning for the Firstborn
24. “The Death of a Nasi” and
the Mourning for Moses
Bibliography
General Index
