The word ogpv, “now,” does not seem to fit into the text. Rashi cites Chazal who reveal a message underlying Yaakov’s words. Yaakov told Yosef, “Now that you are alive, I will die only once.” There are two types of death. First, there is the physical death which confronts every being of flesh and blood. Second, there is another, more definitive form of death — spiritual death. Such spiritual extinction is characterized by the lack of eternity in the individual. Yaakov proclaimed, “I see that you and your children have continued to maintain and forge future links in the legacy…
