When Yosef revealed his true
identity to his brothers in Parshat Vayigash, he said (Breisheet 45:3): “I am
Yosef (ha-od avi chai) is my father (Yaakov) still alive?”
In the Talmud, Taanit 5b, Rabbi
Yitzchak quoted Rabbi Yochanan, stating that Yaakov Avinu never died.
This idea comes from the fact that
when Yaakov’s death is described in Parshat Vayechi, Breisheet 49:33, the word
death is not used: “Yaakov concluded his commands to his sons and he gathered
up his feet, to the bed. He expired and was gathered to his people.”
The statement by Rabbi Yitzchak can
be looked at as an allusion- the righteous are alive even in death- for their
name, memory and deeds live on forever.
Why is Yaakov still considered to be
alive as opposed to Avraham and Yitzchak who were also righteous, yet their
deaths are specifically listed in the Torah?
Rashba points out that Avraham had
Yishmael and Yitzchak had Esav, children who did not follow their father’s
direction. Yaakov’s children all continued in his path and became the twelve
tribes, therefore Yaakov’s legacy lives on forever.
Abravanel states that the fact that
the Jewish people are named after Yaakov whose name was changed to Yisrael,
makes Yaakov eternal.
Dudi Lapid of Yeshivat Kiryat
Shmoneh explains that Yaakov Avinu lives on within each and every Jew. That
would explain the song “Od Avinu Chai, Am Yisrael Chai”, “Our father is still
alive, the Jewish nation is alive.”
The fact that the Land of Israel,
and now the modern State of Israel are named after Yaakov keeps him in the
consciousness of the Jewish people every single day.
Am Yisrael Chai! Od Avinu Chai!
