So that the mourners can say Kaddish in a Minyan, it is customary to make sure there are arranged prayers in the house in which they are sitting Shivah (usually it is customary to sit Shivah in the deceased’s home). For this you need to make sure there are Sidurim in the house, Yarmulkas, Sefer Torah and a minimum of 10 men, which will come at the times of the prayers, to pray for the ascension of the soul of the deceased. In a case that there aren’t 10 men for prayers, the mourners may leave the house where they are sitting Shivah, and go to the synagogue, in order to say Kaddish.
It is customary that during the Shivah, the mourners don’t learn from the Torah or read from the Torah, only issues related to mourning, as Torah learning is considered something happy and supreme.
In some of the Shivah houses it is customary to learn Mishnayot for the ascension of the soul of the deceased, between the time of Mincha and Arvit. The Mishnayot learned during the Shivah are those that begin with the letters of the deceased’s name and also the letters that make the word “Neshama”.
