Yaakov Avinu lo meis
At Yaakov's passing the Torah says only that he breathed his last and was gathered to his people; it does not use the word death. Rebbi Yochanan taught, "Yaakov Avinu lo meis" (Yaakov our father did not die). When Rav Nachman asked whether he had been eulogized, embalmed and buried for nothing, Rebbi Yitzchak answered from a verse in Yirmiyahu: "Do not fear, My servant Yaakov... for I will save you from afar, and your children from the land of their captivity." The navi places Yaakov alongside his children: just as his children are alive, he too is alive. As long as the Jewish people live and are redeemed, Yaakov Avinu lives on in them.
Source: Taanis 5b; Rashi on Bereishis 49:33
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