Mourners Getting Alíyas

It seems to be a commonly-accepted custom that, while mourners are encouraged to lead prayers on weekdays, they are discouraged from leading prayers on Shabbat and holidays — even though otherwise, holidays and Shabbosim cancel all public displays of mourning. I wonder why... should probably ask my rav about that.*

Anyway, the discouragement of aveilim from serving as ohrer-forer (prayer leader) on Shabbat extends to leining, although there seems to be more room for leniency there; maybe because Torah cantillation takes more training than simply leading prayers (unless you're talking about classical hhazanut). So for instance, one of the minyans I go to when I'm on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for Shabbos was in need of someone to lein my bar mitzva parsha, and so it was fine for me to help them out.

However, it seems that in some communities it is similarly customary for mourners to refrain from being called up to the Torah on Shabbos, while in other communities they hold that an aveil getting an alíya is a good thing. So if you're a gabbai in the second type of community, and someone you offered an alíya to doesn't want to take it because they're in mourning, don't be confused.

This has been a public service announcement from the Committee for Intra-Jewish Multicultural Understanding.

* i asked, and he said that while aveilut is never really about straightforward logic, but about what communities decided to do, it could be that not taking certain public roles, since it's a passive act, doesn't necessarily signal mourning; there are many reasons someone might not want to step up, after all.