What is permitted to study during Shiva

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Question

What are the things a mourner is permitted to study?

Answer

A mourner is permitted to read Job and its commentary, Lamentations and its commentary, the negative passages in Jeremiah, the laws of mourning, the third chapter of Tractate Moed Katan, and the narratives of destruction.
He studies alone and does not study with others.

Source

It is stated in Taanit, page 30a: "All the commandments that apply to a mourner apply on Tisha B'Av: it is forbidden to eat and drink, anoint oneself, wear sandals, and engage in marital relations, and it is forbidden to read the Torah, Prophets, and Writings, to study Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, laws, and narratives. But one may read in a place where he does not usually read and study in a place where he does not usually study, and read lamentations, Job, and the negative passages in Jeremiah. And the children of the school are idle, as it is said: 'The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart,' etc."
Tosafot wrote in Moed Katan, page 21a: "In the response of Rabbeinu Yitzchak, my grandfather, it is written that Rabbeinu Yaakov forbade during his mourning days reading Job, lamentations, and the negative passages in Jeremiah because it is not mentioned in our tractate like Tisha B'Av at the end of Taanit (page 30). But in his old age, he changed his mind and permitted it."
Ramban also wrote that just as it is permitted on Tisha B'Av to read Job and the negative passages, so too in mourning. And so ruled the Shulchan Aruch in Siman 384, paragraph 4: "A mourner is permitted to read Job, lamentations, and the negative passages in Jeremiah and the laws of mourning." And it was added that it is permitted to study the commentaries on Job and Lamentations, as written in Shulchan Aruch, Siman 554, paragraph 2.
It seems that a mourner is permitted to study the narratives of destruction, as it is permitted on Tisha B'Av to study the laws of mourning, as Ateret Tzvi wrote, that in the end, there is no joy in them.

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