Midway between Egypt and Hebron, the procession stopped. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan describes the scene. "They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jardena, and there they lamented with a great and mighty lamentation. And he made there a mourning for his father seven days" (Genesis 50:10).
Seven days. This is the origin, in Jewish tradition, of shiva — the week of intense mourning a family observes after a burial (see Talmud Moed Katan 20a, which traces the custom back to Joseph). Mourning is not a private feeling in Judaism. It is a period of days, structured, communal, with specific practices. Joseph did not grieve alone. He grieved with his brothers, with Pharaoh's elders, with the Egyptian retinue. For seven days they stopped moving, sat on the ground, and wept.
The location is significant. A threshing floor — goren — was an open, flat space where grain was processed. It was also the place where ancient Israelites often held assemblies and public rites. Choosing a threshing floor for seven days of lamentation transformed a humble agricultural site into a funeral hall. The Targum is quietly teaching that sacred time can be made anywhere. You do not need a temple to mourn well. You need seven days, a gathering, and a grief you are willing to share.