On the seventh day, on which the shiva concludes, the mourners rise to their feet after the morning service and thereby signal the end of the intense mourning of the first week.

When the morning prayers have concluded, the mourners sit on their low chairs and those present instruct them to rise from their mourning, while adding: “May God mend the breaches of His people of Israel.”

Some add verses of comfort from the prophecy of Isaiah: “Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not be gathered in, as the Lord will be for you an eternal light; the days of your mourning will be completed” (Isaiah 60:20).

In Sephardic communities it is customary on the evening before the end of the shiva (i.e., the evening between the sixth and seventh days) to hold a memorial meal [seudat azkara] in honor of the departed and as a merit for his soul. There is a text that is recited at the meal which usually can be obtained from the local synagogue. The text includes verses, mishnayot, and passages from the Zohar that are recited in memory of the deceased.

With regard to visiting the grave of the deceased on the day that the mourner finishes the shiva, see below.