Can anyone identify all or some of the following items and explain the significance:-chicken man -tateh -chicken man -"mameh was his meal to...

Since I am Jewish, I can certainly handle "sitting shiva."  In Judaism, when people die, they are generally buried within 24 hours.  Jewish people do not embalm their dead, so a body really cannot sit around for very long!  Also, because Judaism arose in the Middle East, where it was very warm, there would have been good reason to bury someone quickly. I believe that followers of Islam, which also originated in the Middle East, have the same custom.

If you bury someone very quickly, there is not much time to for people to visit and console the family. Things are just moving too quickly. So, after the burial, there is a seven-day period called "shiva."  The word "shevah" means "seven" in Hebrew.  During that period, the mourning family stays at home and people come to call and say prayers with the family.  There are many rituals surrounding this custom.  For example, many families cover all the mirrors in the house during the seven-day period, because they are supposed to focus on their mourning and not on their appearances.  Family members are expected to sit on low, uncomfortable chairs, so they can focus on their mourning and not lounge in enjoyment.

Now, what does this have to do with The Color of Water?  It is my recollection that when Ruth married, her family sat shiva. Why?  Because when a Jewish person married out of his or her faith in those days, and sometimes even today, a very religious Jewish family would consider that person dead to them.  This probably sounds rather horrible, and it is, but in the past, many families frowned upon a child marrying out of the religion, whether it was Judaism, Catholicism, or any other religion.  I know of families who opposed marriages outside of their ethnic group, even though the religion was the same.  Now, given that atmosphere of intolerance, imagine Ruth's family when she not only married someone who was not Jewish, but she also married someone of another race who was a clergyman in another religion.

This was a world that was different from the world we live in today.  At least I hope so!