In reply to:
his family was very religious jews, but unlike a normal 7 day period of morning, there was only a short time for sitting shivis.
the period of morning for the death of child is short, by law and custom. if he had been married, his wife would have been "the chief morner", not his parents. and he would have died as father or husband.. but since he was unmarried, he was considered a child still...
Coincidentally enough, I was reading Plutarch's biography of Numa Pompilius (king of Rome, traditional dates 715-673 BC), who was revered as a great law-giver and establisher of religious rituals, and came across this passage:
Numa also prescribed rules for regulating the days of mourning, according to certain times and ages. As, for example, a child of three years was not to be mourned for at all; one older, up to ten years, for as many months as it was years old; and the longest time of mourning for any person whatsoever was not to exceed the term of ten months; which was the time appointed for women that lost their husbands to continue in widowhood. If any married again before that time, by the laws of Numa she was to sacrifice a cow big with calf.
A complete translation (it's the same translation as I'm reading)is at:http://makeashorterlink.com/?K1AD21294
Bingley
