673. The Death of a Righteous

Rabbi Elazar says, “Anyone who engages in Torah Lishma [for Her sake], his death is not by the evil inclination, which is the angel of death… For this reason, righteous who engage in Torah, their body is not impure after their death” (The Zohar, VaYishlach, Item 47).

We can interpret that their descents, called “death,” are not due to the angel of death, who is impure, but because the Creator craves the prayer of the righteous. For this reason, the Creator gives them descents so that through them they will rise to a higher degree. This is called that they are not impure.