[Avodah] Loss of Infants

[cantorwolberg at cox.net]

I realized that people cry for a person’s death for two reasons.

There is a concept in psychology (as well as other disciplines)
called "Overdetermined." People cry for a death for many reasons.
It is an oversimplification, as well as inaccurate, to say that there 
are only two reasons. Certainly we mourn because of the tragedy,
but how would you classify "tragedy" in context of a 100 y.o. vs. an infant
who died?
Of course, we mourn the loss. Something that was whole has been torn
apart. But we also mourn for many more reasons among which can be:
regrets we have in our relationship with the person; because of lost 
future opportunities (which was stated as part of the "two" reasons); because
we miss the individual terribly. Some mourn over the fact that they feel terribly
guilty. 
Each person's situation is unique and we can't really know the inner reasons
why one mourns another. Just as there can be many different emotions when
one davens, so, too, there are many emotions when one mourns (a lot more
than two reasons).

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