The Mourning Pattern:

Judaism, with its long history of dealing with the soul of man, its intimate knowledge of man’s achievements and foibles, his grandeur and his weakness, has wisely devised graduated periods during which the mourner may express his grief, and release with calculated regularity the built-up tensions caused by bereavement. The Jewish religion provides a beautifully structured approach to mourning.

The insight of the Bible, together with the accumulated religious experience of centuries, has taught the Jew how best to manage the grief situation. It was only with the rise of modern psychology, with its scientific tools and controlled experimentation, that the value of this grief structure has been recognized.