Responsum: On Death Practices

This excerpt from a longer Hebrew responsum addresses what seems to have been the practice of Andalusi Jews of burying their dead within their own house, which could be an issue for those observing the seven days of mourning, who needed to say prayers at home. The unnamed questioner reports that Yose (Joseph) Ibn al-Shāmī (lit., “son of the Palestinian”), a little-known Andalusi poet and halakhist, suggested building a small partition between the burial place and the mourners.