Is Our Father Yaacov Really Still Alive? with Rabbi Aaron Dovid Poston

[Music] Shalom Alim everybody Welcome to the m welcome home to Torah a warm welcome for those who are famili unfamiliar uh there's a link below where you can follow in the Hebrew Source sheets which we encourage you to do we want you to learn Hebrew H we also deal with the fundamentals in Judaism some things that you've heard but you never really saw the sources for or had a an in-depth discussion about so that's what we're going to deal with tonight one of the famous statements in kazal is that Yakov never Di died how is that possible the Torah itself says that he was inbombed eulogized and buried and we all know we go to kevone as often as we can and we uh we D in by the Kev by the Marat he's buried there so what do you mean he's not dead Okay so that's going to we're going to deal with that so I just want to mention I want to thank all those who have donated to this Absol absolute fabulous building people are impressed but the most impressive thing is that this place is open all the time and in the morning we have a group of guys learning and it's the energy is is fantastic and anybody walks in here they feel the Kusa and they know this is like a serious place and for those who really want to come and learn on their own I'll get you a key just contact me and you can come in and learn doors open 24 hours 7 days a week um we also we are doing as we have been doing always for oury for the victory of the Jewish people but and I say but it really depends on our Unity Unity is key and uh we will overcome if we can just work on our character number one Torah Mitzvah number two and three and unity which is fundamental okay so let's begin in the which we are in pares the and that is chapter 47 and verse 29 so we're not actually beginning in the we're not starting in the beginning um uh 49 verse 29 47 sorry thank you 47 29 I'm on page 49 uh chapter 49 so let's turn to 47 verse 29 so it's the second verse the time approached for Israel to die so he called his son ysep and he said to him please if I had found if I have found favor in your eyes please place your hand under my thigh and do kindness and Truth with me please please do not bury me in the land of Egypt the Hebrew VI we're going to deal mainly just with those words came close right approached when the time Drew near for the days it says the days in Hebrew the days of Israel to die and we're going to deal with that right you're already catching on okay and that's what we're going to deal with now it is important to see the rashis these are fundamental rashis anyone who it says and we're going to see other verses with King David by mosha where it mentions their Li their days Drew close close to die anyone of whom it is stated that his days Drew near to die did not attain the lifespan of his fourfathers example Isaac only lived Isaac lived 180 but Yakov lived only 147 also King David in connection with David mentioned the expression of drawing near in First Kings 2:1 his father yesi lived 80 years but David only lived 70 years um Rashi continues he called his son ysep why did he call ysep ysep was the vicroy he was he had the ability to let's say the pexia and the knowhow of how to get out of Egypt right how to bring y Yakov for burial outside of Egypt which was what Yakov wanted he says now place your hand um your hand beneath my thigh now what we think and I always thought clear actually clarifies this in a different place that he actually places his hand on the Brisa itself because they didn't have the Torah as we all know in today's society Maybe Christian Society but in society in general they ask you when you go to swear to raise your right hand or placed on a Bible in Judaism believe it or not the source is Judaism in the old days when we used to have people swear they held a safer Torah in their could bosom you know in their in their arms close to their chest and a swearing ceremony was performed um and this was also done if you notice in Genesis 24:2 where Abraham made Eleazar swear that um he shouldn't take a away from the Canaanites but rather go to his home place and what he did was um the same thing so he meant that josu Joseph should swear by the Covenant of circumcision so according to the clear it's the Covenant not the actual circumcision that he held on to so in the Hebrew we kind of skipped over but he asked when we think about um truth and kindness in terms of burial um that is something when you are involved in the burial the eulogy the taking care of burying somebody it's a kindness that you usually I'm kind of tongue and Gest here do not expect anybody to say thank you I mean we're talking about the person who you have buried or helped buried you're not expecting him to uh sit up in his coffin and say hey thanks for all you've done for me this is called a thankless job and we discuss this other places by the way in the description box in the YouTube below you can find links to previous class is where we discuss this now he didn't he did not want to be buried in Egypt and Rashi brings three reasons we're not going to discuss them tonight but they were discussed in previous classes one because the soil of Egypt was destined to become lice as we know through the different plagues one was the plague of lice and he didn't want them crawling uh near or underneath his body didn't want to be bued in Egypt for that reason number two because drum roll please I know there's no table here but basically um when the resurrection will happen before the resurrection takes place there are these I call them wormholes and basically e it's either the soul or the the loose bone some part of the body needs to get to ER Isel you got to get here first of all while you're alive but if you're not if you're unfortunate to be buried outside the land of Israel apparently there is some kind of pain involved of squeezing through those wormholes in order to get here because according to most opinions the resurrection will take place here could be that only take place here although I will tell you something I read and I'm not sure if I remember who said it it could have been the um but there is an opinion that says that there actually be two resurrections the people from Kar will resurrect first we'll be here to witness it and then everyone dies and then we all get resurrected together there's an opinion like that and the third reason he didn't want to be buried in Egypt was so that the Egyptians will not deify him okay so that's Rashi on the first verse the clear begins a statement in the mid okay we're gonna have to discuss this it's a little bit hard to in this cryptic statement uh there is a statement that will be made made later that basically there are those who are alive that's the sikim even after they die sikim are alive and after they pass on they're still alive and r evil people are dead even when they're alive okay but the clear explains like this that as long as there are alive and at least one sadic there will be some level of peace I mean it could get worse right you see things the world has never been totally a piece but there is some kind of braa a rosem some kind of um what's the word I'm looking for impression that's made by the sadik we learned earlier when Yakov left Beva there was a rosem that was made so there's a rosem some kind of impression of tranquility and peace in the world while the sadik the righteous person is alive I think it's we're focusing on the days interesting so in his death or through his death or when he dies is U negated or taken away those days of Peace in sh and when he when he dies so it's uh it's negated there is no longer this um this peace in the world and thear says now earlier in another class we discussed why did the Shibu begin because jakov died similar to like Abraham Hashem took Abraham out early so that um he didn't see um asov go off onto a horrible um cultural uh negative development and so uh God took Abraham out 5 years earlier as you notice Abraham died 175 and his son Yak died 180 so he didn't live the full amount although the clear explains both sides it could be as we just explained he died okay let's go through that as long as he was alive the sh didn't begin the slavery didn't begin although there's another opinion that it was the the sheu that started and that's why he died so it's in other words he died the Shu began or the other way around aovo tell us this is the famous statement in gorus page 5B Shalom that he did not die and we have to deal with that as I brought up the question in the very beginning there is clearly a statement not only a statement that he was inbombed and eulogized and buried but he himself said I'm going going to die okay so we have to deal with all that okay the clear continues that even though every sadik and there are many sadik in this room after they die in their death they're still called living mik but why is the lesson specifically we learn from Yakov that could be wasn't said about Abraham wasn't said about yet yet they were and they came before why didn't we learn it earlier so why was it specifically mentioned by yov there actually is a gor we're going to take a look at Tinus 5B makaro there's going to be a connection there's going to be in the same verse even in the same verse there's a connection to Yakov to his offspring just as his offspring is alive and we are testimony to that so too Yakov is alive I think at this point just to quickly look I'm sorry I don't have the gamorra too many copies of it if anybody wants to use it to follow I think it's is an appropriate time just to take a quick look at the gamor itself and we'll see some of the verses so it says said is it really true that didn't die yeah there are those that hold that he did die but one second look there clear that he wasal that he was eulogized and he was buried m you know there's like I'm going to say a hint but there's some aspect of a way to learn that Yakov did not die and how do we know in Jeremiah look on the source sheet number do I have it here 30:1 it's number eight on the soret says and you fear not my servant Yakov says the Lord do not be dismayed oh Israel why does it have to say Yakov and Israel for behold I save you from afar and your seed from the land of their captivity imagine I think everyone sitting in this room was probably in the land of captivity and we have been saved and we're looking forward to the rest of our Brethren I mean how many are there that are outside the land more than half the Jews live outside the land of Israel today okay um and we're looking forward to their um how do you say it Reclamation to their Heritage and their land like we have the return but this statement in the same verse you have the name Israel I mean look right and you have his seed and the Clear goes on I'm sorry the the gamor goes on and says I'll just read the verse uh so you can find in the words of that God promised the Jewish people what did he promise Israel exactly what we just read in English that Hashem will he says to Israel don't be afraid and I'm going to save your seed I'm going to take them from a distant land and bring them back from their captivity from the very fact that within the same verse mentions both the name Yakov and his seed it's a mish there's some kind of equation that the PK itself equates puts together and connects who which is Yakov Lazaro to his seed just as we are witnessing and the whole world Witnesses they they know that Israel's alive right just as Israel's alive and Israel will be redeemed as they are just as hem will gather in the Jewish people from the land of their captivity he will gather in the dead I'm sorry what did I just say he will gather in the The Living he will not Gather in the dead now I'm before I translate this well today it's a little different but only only the living are in captivity and not the dead unfortunately we are too are too familiar with um you know recent politics and whatnot but let's just say for the most part that's how history has always been that it's the living who are the captives and we are praying that even the dead captives are going to be buried back in erra so the statement was just as his seed is alive so to Yakov himself is alive now if you think that's interesting wait till you see this I never knew this and we say this you know we say this often every day the the song of the sea that Hashem is going to bring yov right just like hasem goes into galut and when he we're praying that his presence come comes out of the Exile so too he brings Yakov to the Exile in order to see and witness with his own eyes the Redemption of his children I never knew this just as we find by The Exodus of Egypt and we say it every day look at Exodus 1431 number nine on the S sheet right the Israel saw the great hand which the Lord used upon the Egyptians and the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in Moses his servant we say it every day but the the gmor implies and theim explain we're still in theor that is that Jacob that's who Israel our great great great grandfather he is going to witness like he was witnessing then he was brought to the yamu Shak unbelievable unbelievable now is this a proof that he never died or was he resurrected we'll see um okay I I don't know where I should go at this point because there's so many other commentaries what we should do is finish the clear and then get back into some of the commentaries on the gamar so what we decided we're going to go back to the clear with a little bit of a running start and uh finish it and then we'll go back to the sources so four lines down kazal tell us Inus that he didn't die and even though every sadic is called alive even when he's dead nevertheless we mentioned specifically Yakov is the one that we learn this from and we we're taught it and that's because of this heish we just read in the gor just as his seed is alive so too he is alive that's where we left off the children are basically a part of or a portion of their parents that every Fus at least it's like a limb it really means loins the loin of their mother it's like within it's part of the body of the mother and the father that's a part of so while the question is you talk about the seed while the son the children are alive then it's as if the parent is alive because it's a part of it's a limb of meaning to say it's a it's a part of it's a a limb of now we asked the question why so he answers his bed was complete what does that mean means his children that came from the bedroom right that um all of them all of them were not just alive they were activists they were men of Val Valor and energy and they they they made they were doers they were doers okay of Ben Russia but God forbid someone who gives birth you know uh a father's a or mother's a child who's a Russia C now we're actually talking about the parents not just the child the the they're called dead in their lifetime as a Bora M Aba so then the child does not give any Merit to the parent now there's a little bit of Aramaic here but it's with Hebrew basically the parent is going to be judged based on the children's actions that the Father the parent is called Dead even while he's alive because if the child's dead and it's a part of the parent also has a part of death to him too therefore there's another DHA in gor bab Basra on a verse in First Kings 11 verse 21 and that we have to look for it's somewhere over here number three on the swore sheet Hadad heard in Egypt that doid slept with his fathers and yav the commander of the army had died so one second so in the he is basically lying down but it really means that he died but the word death is not used by David but by yav death is used in the same verse you have a distinct you know different description of both of their deaths they both died one died and his sleep and his bad true but it doesn't use the term dead and but we know he died and by yav it is specifically says mate so look at Rashi concerning David I really want to look at the next four lines down another explanation is that concerning David who was survived by m meritorious son who took his place an expression of sleeping as mentioned because he gave over such a great sadic as a son has children so the word shav is used whereas yav who was not survived by mer by a Meritor son took his place so I just read in Hebrew so we read the Rashi and the the last two lines right that's the clear distinction he left over a son like him came which is not the case by y so too as we will see some more verses regarding y the was used so what died the days died the days of the shva I want to go to a um a medish I think it's number two on the sore sheet so we didn't read it but let's go through that Source H in Hebrew this is in Deuteronomy chap 30 1:14 behold the days are drawing near for you to die this is mosha and the the key word is ha ha cor again your days are drawing near the days so the The Narrative the gamorra the medish gives us is that Moses was saying to the Holy One Master of the world the word meaning the Torah itself the word that I Ed to praise you when I said and he says it in Deuteronomy chapter 10:4 Moses says behold the heavens and the heavens of the heavens and the Earth and all that is in it belong to the Lord your God by that very word the same words that I used in the Torah to bring praise to you you condemn me in the Torah itself the Torah condemns me uh by that very word have you condemned me to death and again it's hin the Holy One Blessed Be he said to him you know I'm going to bring you some peace of mine behold H that you are soon to sleep with your ancestors see the word and therefore there's a peace of mind and there's another statement in job 3:1 17 there in death the weary are at rest shim and then also Deuteronomy 31:14 behold the days are drawing near to die back to Moshe again we're on page two Rua Ben Ley said this idea of a drawing near is uttered with reference to the forefathers a drawing near is uttered with reference to Kings and you see in First Kings chapter 21 we talk about King David then when the days for David to die Drew near we saw that in reference to prophets there's Moses Holy One Blessed Be he addressed in a second person in Deuteronomy 31:14 which we read already nowm nak me says and this is our question do days die do the days die because that's what we implied it's the days that die these words are simply a reference to the righteous when they die their days pass away from the world back to that idea but they themselves remain alive as it says in 12 chapter 12 of job verse 10 in whose hand is every living Soul this is a very important verse um actually they're all important but this is not the verse I was looking for in whose hand is every living Soul now if the living are delivered into God's hand what the um the the living are with the dead are not not delivered into his hand it is simply the righteous that these are the Righteous when who even in their death are called living back to that idea and it says in 2 Samuel 23:20 umah he was a son of a valiant Warrior basically meaning a living person is Right ra Pauline okay and what this is the measure and is not everyone eventually dead however the wicked during their lifetime and in their death are called Dead this is back to the statement we said earlier now this is um a verse from Ezekiel 21:30 and you oh slain Wicked Prince of Israel whose Day Has Come and now this is interesting because I don't know if anybody ever noticed it I didn't notice it obviously people have in Deuteronomy 17:6 it says um did I I skip that it says okay it says on the evidence of two or three Witnesses ready for this shall the dead be put to death okay um the dead shall be put to death he's a russer he's evil and he should be put to death U but not on uh the um witness not on one witness so one second does someone dead deserve another death it is simply that the wicked during their lifetime are regarded as dead because on seeing the Rising Sun what do we do we we made bras we ate we had a nice meal um seeing the rising sun such as one such a one meaning someone who's dead is not going to make the BR right we say in in the one who forms light and when it says when it sets of course the dead are not going to say the blessing who brings on evenings nor does he say the blessings before and after eating or drinking however the righteous do say a blessing for each and everything they eat and drink see and hear moreover these blessings are uttered not only why they're alive but even when they're dead look at this suim in Psalms 149 veres 5- six you you'll look at these verses differently like Israel saw right the dead on the Sea by the by the splitting of the sea it was talking about y sa that this verse is talking about the dead let the Saints rejoice in glory let them sing for Joy upon their beds with peons to God in their throats and two-edged swords in their hand y right they're going to sing a on their bed the same with Mish talking about on the dead while they're dead these righteous people are singing they're saying BR they're giving praise to Hashem even on their deathbed okay so now I want to go some of the sources and I don't know where to begin but I will start you don't have this sheet unfortunately some do I think it's uh this is from the back of the Matia you guys don't have this oh yeah maybe it's on the back of that let's see no it's not sorry I apologize so I'll read it to you if you're familiar with theor is unbelievable so there's a paragraph there's a clarification of the statement the famous statement Yakov never died the he died in a way that's a little bit different than the rest of the righteous people the way they died his body he did die and the reason why yob is specifically mentioned more than Abraham Abraham or Isaac also they for sure are still alive because they were righteous but we mention it by because of that verse in there's a connection between yov specifically with his seed we don't see that by and then he says that it's really um worthy and uh U easy to make the connection with Yakov you can relate it to yakob more than you can relate it to AB and and Y because of the following because all of Yo's the 12 sons even Ruan who right you have to find out what he did and what he didn't do but right away after the whole story of him switching the beds he is included in the 12 tribes and we know they were all that's not for now but he says unfor fortunately unfortunately that's the way the world is that Abraham also gave birth to Ismael and yak and that up given birth to asov but when it comes meaning there were R people who were not righteous H but when it came to Yakov all of his seed were righteous there's a he explains what does that mean the whole time he was in Egypt he wasn't dead he only was dead when it gets buried it says then he died so we'll see that shortly who made um that comment actually brings a another source the ran okay so you don't have that either I'm sorry um but the on that MAA in the back there's a he brings down a ran who ask ma right there's two verses one in chapter 48: 21 and again in chapter 50:4 he says I'm about to die so you're going to bury me in Egypt he um he says that himself he says I'm about to die so the ramban he himself says he's going to die so how is it that we say that he didn't die so he anwers julai who perhaps he himself didn't know that he wasn't going to die when he said it wasn't lying just thought um that he was going to die so this sounds a little bit like I'm not I don't want to say a false humility but he didn't want his children to know that he was going to die so he told him he was going to die because that would be like hey I'm unique I'm very special I'm not going to die is a little bit like maybe unbelievable so he said I'm going to die but perhaps he didn't die now back to the he actually resolves this question and according to his own words right I'm I'm going to die so bury me in my burial place it's only once that happened that he died I think I have that verse want to point out in Genesis 49:33 that's number seven on the sore sheet Yakov concluded commanding his sons and it says he drew up his legs into the bed and expired now English doesn't always do it expiring was brought into his people doesn't say he died right okay so he didn't the Rashi says he drew his legs he drew in his legs and expired and was brought in but no mention is made of death in his in this regard and this is where our rabbis of blessed memory say our father Yakov did not die I just want to see if there's anything here before we actually read that ramban the ramban actually quotes a lot of this stuff that I have here uh just by mentioning you know when we mentioned that Yakov himself said I'm going to die uh that's 48:21 um and Israel said to ysep behold I'm going to die okay and God will be with you so he says he by the way in Genesis 50:5 when it says that yosef's Brothers saw that their father had died it's it's not so simple because look at the Hebrew so in the Rashi says what does it mean they saw they actually didn't see him die but it says they recognized yakov's death through yosef's reactions they just assumed based on yosef's reaction that he was dead for they were accustomed to dine at yosef's table and he was friendly you know as the vice Roy before he and then after he revealed himself so he was friendly toward them out of respect for his father but as soon as Yakov died he was no longer friendly toward them they never the PK says they saw him die but that's not what it means they perceived that he died only because of the the reaction had changed from yosef's uh you know reaction towards them let's look at the ramban this is on chapter 49:33 where it says Thea right we said it doesn't say he died but he expired and GA was gathered to his people there's a glaring Omission in the description of Yo's passing which the ramban discusses and he's just quoting Rashi right it doesn't say that he died anywhere in regard to Yakov our sages therefore say that Yakov never died and that is a quote from Rashi but the Raman discusses a difficulty with this comment of the sages according to the sages Yakov he himself said I'm going to die you see yov mentioned in connection with himself saying and it's in 48:21 behold I'm about to die God will be with you on the left side perhaps Yakov didn't know himself that he was about to die that's one opinion alternatively he didn't want to give glory to himself by calling attention to this extraordinary fact similarly when it says yose's brother perceived that their father was dead it means for them that it was as if he was dead and alternatively another explanation is that they did not know about this matter at all they thought that Yakov had indeed died now there is a sa for which I would recommend uh rachinski wrote a book called G if you really want to learn about what happens in the world to come and G the bridge of Life the ramban explains having elucidated the details of the sage statement ramban explains a deeper meaning the idea behind this medish meaning the gor's assertion that Yakov did not die is that the souls of the righteous are bound up in the bound of life that we saw uh in 1 Samuel which is a very important verse I mentioned that then um what happens is by the righteous the soul is going to hang out it's going to hoover around the deceased person all day long and it's going to wear a second Garb sheni remember the ramban is quite uh um cabalistic explaining that there's a second Garb the first Garb would be considered the human body which decomposes after death regarding the second Garb the re we look at that as a lot of further clarification um at all times which never leaves it stripped bear it's not empty as in the case with Yakov so he was alive he still was alive or else it Don the Garb only on certain occasions maybe the yard site um and this concept concept can be understood further in gamor chabas 152b and in gamor CIS 103 3A so there is a very important thing I do want to share with you the the AL uh it's in the commentary on the page of the gorah um five 5B of Tinus so the like this actually let me just go back he says this idea that yov did not die so we learn in Bros 18a that righteous people even in their death if they physically die they're still called alive and this is I would say drum like a very important Point here because their name right what do we have a shame that's all we have in this world try to make right through our character the way we behave the way we deal with other people their name their memory and their actions live on forever the rashba explains SAR the the marha and they go according to their own opinion even though reab Yan holds that yov really did die but he didn't die like other people he got up early he got up first he's not like all the other people right he's alive he he and we said by y when the sea split he was there God brought him up he resurrected him then to witness his children being redeemed I'm not just reading the words here okay and then the last opinion just to bring it down it's explanation that yakob was resurrected he got up he was resurrected in order to see to witness his children being redeemed Lao just like we learned in the gor there's a connection between him and his seed so the truth is yov did die but not in the way that we Now understand he really did live he still is alive he was resurrected however you want to look at it whether it's his name we carry his name we are yakob Bob we B is we are alive he is alive through our actions that we should B live up to as much as we can right maybe we're dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants we're living through historical times right but Yakov is watching us you know and interesting ysep himself you know was save from his own looked in the mirror and he saw maybe a window saw the picture of his father the image of his father the truth is his own face it could be just looking his own face so when we look you know the the the face the partu is a very unique thing to who we are and unfortunately many of us experience low self-esteem or all kinds of uh you know uh mental and emotional challenges but we have to know we are creating the image of God we have the partf right of Israel is straight to God right we creating the image of God there's a lot of potential Mara said of nor Weinberg that if you ever say I can't it's a to AAR so we have a a fast day coming up and B it should be a maybe it won't be a fast at all but if it is it should be meaningful and we should work on Mish and that should bring about batem the rebuilding the building of the Third Temple and the the coming of mhia and the GMA batem and I wish everyone a shabbat shalom and a great life and we'll see you we won't see you next week I will be in Miami at my grandson's bris so we had a uh grandson born a few hours ago andem we're flying out and coming back safely so anyway we'll see you in two weeks call [Music] to oh been