245. "And the days drew near for Israel to die" (Beresheet 47:29). We learned that Rabbi Chiya said, It is written, "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years." In his life, it is written Jacob and in his death, it says Israel. YET THE NAME ISRAEL IS MORE ELEVATED THAN THE NAME JACOB. Rabbi Yosi said, Surely IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SAID HERE ISRAEL, for it does not say, 'The day drew near,' but "the days." THIS IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND, for a man does not die in several days; within one hour, one moment, he dies and passes away from the world.

246. HE ANSWERS, We have so learned that when the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to take back to Him the spirit of man, all the days the man lived come before Him and are counted. When the days draw near him to be reckoned, the man dies, and the Holy One, blessed be He, takes back to Himself the spirit of man, that breath which the man breathes in and out.

247. Happy is the portion of the man, whose days draw near the King without reproach, and none is pushed out for containing a transgression committed in it. The reason the words 'drawing near' are used in relation to the righteous is that the days draw near the King without reproach.

248. Woe to the wicked of whom it does not say 'drawing near.' For how could their days draw near the King, when all the crimes of the world are found in them? Hence they do not draw near the King, nor come before Him nor are they recorded above, but are consumed of themselves, as is said of them, "The way of the wicked is like darkness, they know not at what they stumble" (Mishlei 4:19).

249. And here it says, "And the days drew near for Israel to die," for assuredly they drew near without shame, in complete joy. This is why it says (lit.) "the days of Israel," AND NOT "THE DAYS OF JACOB," as the name Yisrael is more complete than that of Jacob. You might say that it is written "and Jacob was a plain (lit. 'whole') man" (Beresheet 25:27), indicating that the name Jacob too is whole. HE ANSWERS, THE NAME JACOB IS ALSO WHOLE, but not whole on a superior grade like Israel is.

250. We have learned that Rabbi Yosi said, When a man's days are enumerated before the King, those of a certain righteous are enumerated far from the King, and the days of another righteous are counted close to the King. They do not stand at a distance but come in without shame and draw near the King. Happy is their portion. This is the meaning of the verse, "And the days drew near for Israel to die."