“Ya’acov Never Died” – Does the Torah have a Recipe for Immortality?

Parashat Vayechi

“Ya’acov Never Died” – Does the Torah have a Recipe for Immortality?

What is the Difference Between the Immortality of Ya’acov and all Tzaddikim?

“What should I write for Parashat Vayechi?” I asked my husband. Struggling with a bad flu or perhaps its covid, I need all the help I can get to produce my weekly blog. My husband answered, “Ya’acov Avinu never died” (Babylonian Talmud Ta’anit 5b). “But what does that mean?” I asked. “Is this sentence really to be taken literally? Didn’t his sons weep for him and eulogize him? Didn’t they bury him?” The textual basis for the Talmudic statement regarding Ya’acov’s immortality is that unlike the description of the demise of both Avraham and Yitzchak: “Then Avraham expired and died…” (Bereishit 25:8), “Then Yitzchak expired and died” (Bereishit 35:29). The word “died” is curiously left out regarding Ya’acov: “Then Ya’acov concluded commanding his sons, and he drew his legs [up] into the bed, and expired and was brought in to his people.” (Bereishit 49:33). AND EXPIRED AND WAS BROUGHT IN - But no mention is made of death in his regard. [Therefore,] our Rabbis of blessed memory said: Our father Ya’acov did not die. – [From Ta’anit 5b]; (Rashi ibid.). Although Parashat Vayechi describes Ya’acov Avinu’s demise, the word וַיְחִי/vayechi means “he lived.” It seems that the parasha of Ya’acov’s death is really about his life, that he ‘lived’ even after he ‘died.’ But don’t all righteous people live on forever? as it states, “Even after death, the righteous are called living” (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 18a). Several Talmudic stories depict righteous people as living beyond their death. Rabbi Elazar answered questions for eighteen years after his death (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 84b). Rabbi Nachman taught that those who never had jealousy in their lives are not bound by death (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 152b). Then what is the difference between the immortality of all tzaddikim and Ya’acov, about whom it states “Ya’acov our father never died”?

Living on Through the Children

“When righteous people depart, they are to be found in all the worlds more than during their lifetime.” The legacy of these unique tzaddikim continues to inspire people on earth after their demise, and their influence grows as time goes by. This is because their spiritual energy doesn’t disappear with them, it lingers, and is available for anyone who feels connected to the deceased tzaddik. Moreover, one who dies and leaves behind a child who is a Tzaddik is considered alive (Rashi, Bereishit 18:19). Since children are considered a continuation of their parents as long as they are alive, their parents are considered alive as well. “Therefore, do not fear, Ya’acov My servant, says Hashem, neither be dismayed, Israel, for I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity” (Jeremiah 30:10). The prophet juxtaposes Ya’acov to his seed: Just as his children are alive, so too, is he [Ya’acov] alive (Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 5b). This Talmudic opinion expresses a widespread view that immortality is achieved through one’s offspring, in a more figurative sense. Whereas Avraham had a Yishmael, and Yitzhak had an Esau, Ya’acov, who is the first father to beget only righteous sons, lives on through his righteous children. If you want to know the secret to the longevity of the Jewish nation, look back at Ya’acov. “Give truth to Ya’acov” (Michah 7:20). Ya’acov disseminates the power of his seed energy to his offspring, the power of truth, and truth is immortal. Ya’acov is the plant through which the entire righteous nation sprouts forth as it states, “Your people, all of them righteous, shall inherit the land forever, a scion of My planting, the work of My hands in which I will glory” (Yesha’yahu 60:21). Since Ya’acov is the founder of the dynasty of righteous descendants, it makes sense that the Torah emphasizes his immortality even more than all other righteous people.

Ya’acov Rectifies Adam and Restores the Loss of Immortality

I was thinking that it must be possible to also understand Ya’acov’s immortality in a more literal sense. Perhaps in some secret way, his body and soul are still bound together in perfect life-filled unity beyond time and space. Originally Adam and Eve were created to live forever in paradise. That all changed when they ate from the Tree and became contaminated with the spiritual pollution of the serpent, who brought about death and demise. It is known that Esav is the incarnation of the primordial serpent and that Ya’acov is the rectification of Adam (Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 84a). When Ya’acov overcame Esav’s archangel it was a victory over the angel of death. From then on Ya’acov’s body, save his left thigh became illuminated to gain an eternal aspect. The process of retrieving the Light of Immortality – the Light called the Gemar HaTikun, (the completion of the rectification) from the snake – the Negative Side, began a while back when Ya’acov had to acquire his father’s blessing through deceit. Since the Negative Side of the serpent emanates from “the realm of lies,” Ya’acov was compelled to correct the sin of Adam using the very tools of the serpent. Just as the snake made Adam and Eve fall into darkness and lose immortality through deceit and lies, Ya’acov had to reclaim the blessings of eternity through deceit. Whether Ya’acov’s immortality is figurative or literal, the statement, “Ya’acov our father is not dead” can strengthen us, his descendants, in the realization that we too inherited an aspect of his immortality and therefore, have no need to fear death.

EmunaHealing to Overcome Fear of Death

1. Make yourself comfortable, lean back, and surrender as you breathe slowly. Close your eyes while inhaling and exhaling gently.

2. Imagine looking and the sky at night and contemplating the infinity of space. There are stars so distant from you that they’re measured in the distance that light travels in an earthly year. Beyond those stars that you can see are endless galaxies that stretch out into something we call eternity.

3. Breathe into how the space that you occupy is infinite. Its vastness is too huge for us to see. We’re in an infinite, never-ending, never-beginning universe.

4. Visualize birth and death as a cycle. Contemplate their relativity. Whereas birth is death to the spiritual world, death is actual birth into the spiritual world.

5. Keep breathing while you pay close attention to the following sentence: “If life is infinite, then this is not life.”

6. Repeat this sentence in your mind and consider how life is truly infinite. We can see this in everything that we scrupulously observe.

7. Allow yourself to accept that life, in terms of our body and all of its achievements and possessions, which without exception begins and ends in dust, isn’t life itself.

8. Ponder the true meaning of life, in its most spiritual and eternal sense.

9. Imagine a great loving Light bestowing the deepest compassion on you.

10. Allow yourself to feel at peace within this Light of kindness.

11. Breathe the light into your heart and let your heart absorb its great compassion and love.

12. Let a feeling of acceptance and trust fill your entire being as you keep envisioning yourself enveloped within this great light!

13. Allow yourself to feel completely safe!