Musar su Genesi 50:2

Let me first relate an explanation I have heard about the well known statement attributed to Rabbi Yochanan, in Taanit 5b that "our patriarch Jacob did not die." The explanation I heard understands this statement not as something homiletic, but as the פשט. This in spite of the Torah having testified that Jacob's body was embalmed (Genesis 50,2-3). How do we reconcile the statement with the report in the Torah? Jacob had two names, Jacob and Israel. A person having more than one name implies that he commands additional spiritual powers. When Jacob mourned the loss of Joseph, part of his spiritual powers, i.e. the part associated with the name Jacob, departed from him because of the anguish he experienced. As a result all the spiritual powers that he remained with were the ones associated with the name ישראל. He experienced the loss of the spiritual powers associated with the name Jacob when the brothers took Benjamin to Egypt, an action which Jacob described with the words: "You have bereaved me already; Joseph is gone, Shimon is gone, and you would take Benjamin!" (42,36) At that moment Jacob's soul departed. If you will examine the text in the Torah, you will find that the name Jacob is not mentioned any more until he received the message that Joseph was alive. At that time the Torah writes: ותחי רוח יעקב אביהם, "The spirit of their father Jacob was revived" (45,27). In view of what we have just said, how can we account for the Torah's reference to the name Jacob in 45,25 where the brothers are reported as returning to their father Jacob? We may assume that when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and they all experienced joy, the soul of Jacob began to revive.