It is proper to gather ten men to be present at the time of the departure of the soul, and they should occupy themselves with Torah, Tehillim, and other mizmorim, as arranged in the sefer Ma’avar Yabok. When this occurs on Shabbat, some have the custom to say only Tehillim.
Sources and Explanations
Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (siman 194, se’if 4) and Chochmat Adam (kelal 151, se’if 19), and they cite as a reference the sefer Ma’avar Yabok (Ma’amar Siftei Renanot, chapter 4). There in Ma’avar Yabok (chapter 5) he writes which mizmorim should be said before the goses (dying person), and this is his language: “These are the indications of the mizmorim, and each individual should choose from them what seems right in his eyes, or add to them from his broad understanding: Mizmor 16, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 42, 43, 51, 66, 84, Yoshev BeSeter, 103, 117, 118, 120, 121, 123, 130, 140, 141, 142, 143, 148, 149, 150. Regarding Mizmor 148 and 150, it is written in Parashat Pekudei (daf 232) that they are the sum of all the praises. Altogether there are 28 mizmorim, corresponding to the 28 joints (perakim) of the ‘Great Hand,’ which is the Name Havayah, which is to the right, etc. They add strength, restore health, and give life to the soul and also to the body.” When this occurs on Shabbat, the Nit’ei Gavriel (Hilchot Aveilut, vol. 1, chapter 3, halacha 7) cites, in the name of the takanah (enactment) of the Chevra Kadisha of Frankfurt, and so it is in Siddur Beit Yaakov, to say only Tehillim and not to learn Torah before the goses.
From the sefer “Shaf Veyativ – Laws of Saying Tehillim” by Rabbi Shay Tahan, Chapter 10: Saying Tehillim During Mourning, Halacha 9 (p. 154 in the print edition). Translated from the Hebrew original.
