Комментарий к Берешит 49:33

ויאסף רגליו means HE BROUGHT HIS FEET into the bed. (Rashi tells us that ויאסף signifies הכניס, he brought in).

AND HE EXPIRED, AND WAS GATHERED TO HIS PEOPLE. But the word “death” is not mentioned in his case. Our Rabbis therefore said, “Jacob, our father, did not die.” This is the language of Rashi.
Now according to this opinion of our Rabbis, the difficulty arises: Now Jacob applied the term “death” to himself, as it is written, Behold, I die, but G-d shall be with you!²⁵⁶Above, 48:21. Now perhaps he did not know it himself, or it may be that he did not wish to pay honor to himself. Similarly, with respect to the verse, And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead,²⁵⁷50:15. we must say that to them he was dead, or it may be that they did not at all know of this. Now the purport of this Midrash [which states that “Jacob, our father, did not die],” is that the souls of the righteous are bound in the bind of life with the Eternal,²⁵⁸I Samuel 25:29. and his soul covereth him all the day,²⁵⁹Deuteronomy 33:12. “wearing a scarlet garment”²⁶⁰A Cabalistic term indicating “the garment” which the soul dons after the death of the physical body. so that she not be stripped naked, as Jacob’s [soul was privileged to do continually], or which she dons at certain occasions [as do the souls of lesser righteous individuals]. This matter will be understood in the light of what is told in Tractate Shabbath²⁶¹There (152 b) the story is told of certain grave-diggers who were digging in the ground when they heard the voice of Rabbi Acho’ie the son of Yoshiyahu, who had been buried there previously, rebuking them. He was yet alive in the sense which the Rabbis refer to when they say Jacob did not die. and Tractate Kethuboth.²⁶²There (103 b) the story is told of Rabbeinu Hakadosh who, after his demise, would come home every Sabbath eve and pronounce the Kiddush.

ויאסוף רגליו, he drew his legs back into the bed, seeing that all the while he had pronounced the blessings he had been sitting on the edge of the bed as we know from 48,2 וישב על המטה, “he sat up on the bed.” Also while blessing Joseph’s sons he had remained sitting upright, as we know from 48,12 where Joseph is described as pulling back his sons from between Yaakov’s knees. G’d‘s fondness for Yaakov is emphasised by the Torah when it reports that Yaakov possessed this strength until he had completed the last words of his blessings and his instructions.

ויכל יעקב לצוות, Jacob finished commanding his sons, etc. This verse teaches that Jacob was an exception to the rule proclaimed by Solomon in Kohelet 8,8 that on the day someone dies he is no longer master over his spirit. Jacob was in full control of all his senses when he made all these arrangements. Only after having concluded all he wanted to say, ויאסוף דגליו, he gathered his feet into the bed, etc. Here is the source of the statement in Taanit 5 that "our father Jacob did not die." If death had taken possession of him, he would not have retained control long enough to be able to put his feet back into his bed. Midrash on Kohelet 8,8 explains that on the day of death a man cannot say to the angel of death: "wait for me until I have concluded my business and then I will come."

ויאסוף את רגליו. As long as he had still been speaking to his sons he felt strong enough to carry on sitting on the bed with his feet on the floor. As soon as he had finished, he pulled up his feet to the bed and lay down.

ויגוע ויאסף, “he passed away painlessly and was gathered to join his people.” Our sages use this phraseology to comment that “Yaakov did not die,” seeing that the Torah avoided the word וימת, “he died,” in spite of the fact that he himself had announced that he was going “to die.” (compare 48,21). Possibly, he himself did not know that he would not die in the accepted meaning of the word, or he did not want to make a statement which sounded arrogant, bombastic. We also have the report of the Torah in 50,15 ויראו אחי יוסף כי מת אביהם, “Joseph’s brothers saw that their father had died.” This is no contradiction. As far as the brothers were concerned their father had ”died.” Or, they too, had remained ignorant of what has been revealed to us by our tradition and the allusion in the text, something the brothers did not know as the Torah had not been written and revealed as yet.

Our father Yaakov did not die. The Gemora in Taanis 5b objects, “Did not the doctors embalm Yaakov (Bereishis 50:2)? And does it not say that his sons carried him from Egypt and buried him in Eretz Yisrael (ibid v. 13)? The answer is: It means he did not taste death, i.e., he did not feel the pain of death. Much more has been said on this subject.

ויאסוף רגליו אל המיטה, “he gathered his feet into the bed;” he had previously gotten up in bed in order to give a blessing to Joseph’s sons as we know from Genesis 48,2, where he was described as summoning his strength and sitting upright on his bed. As soon as he had completed his blessings he made ready to die.

ויאסוף רגליו אל המטה, “he retracted his feet into the bed.” Originally, he had been sitting on the edge of the bed as mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph his feet having been in contact with the floor.

ויגוע AND HE EXPIRED — but the word death is not mentioned in his case, and our Teachers therefore said: (Taanit 5b) “Jacob, our father, is not dead”.

Thus concludes the book Bereshith, containing the story of the accounts of the patriarchs. It tells of what has occurred and of new things that will occur²⁶³Here we have Ramban’s recurrent theme that the book of Genesis alludes to the future events in the story of Israel. even before they spring up in the hearts of people.
And to the Creator of all beginnings,
Him that rideth the skies,²⁶⁴Psalms 68:5.
Many praises and myriads of thanksgivings.
By Him actions and causes are weighed;²⁶⁵I Samuel 2:3.
He uncovereth deep things²⁶⁶Job 12:22. and lofty opinions,
And brings the thoughts to light.
It is He Who leadeth me in the path of righteousness,
In the midst of the path of justice,²⁶⁷See Proverbs 8:20.
Who vouchsafest benefits unto the undeserving.”²⁶⁸From the benediction upon deliverance from peril or recovery from sickness (Berachoth 54 b).

ויגוע, an expression used with the righteous, describing a painless death. Some (Taanit 5) explain the fact that the Torah did not add the word וימת, “he died,” which is customary, as a hint that Yaakov did not actually die in the accepted sense of the word. Although the Torah specifically mentioned that Moses died, i.e. וימת משה, (Deut. 34,5) the fact is that he did not die. (Sotah 13). The fact is that the righteous do not die in the accepted sense of the word.

ויאסף אל עמיו, I have explained the meaning of this expression on 25,8.