Yaakov Avinu didn't die? But they embalmed him and buried him!

At first glance, there appears to be a contradiction between the statements of our Sages that “Yaakov Avinu didn’t die” and the facts found in the chumash: “but they embalmed him and buried him”.

However the Rebbe says that there is no contradiction. Yet, how is it possible that Yaakov Avinu is really alive in his body, and at the same time they really buried his body?

In truth: a man possesses two bodies, different aspects of physicality; thus the body can be alive even while it appears that it is not.

View the PDF with scanned images of original sources and English translation: http://yiddishkeit.org/PageLaunch.asp?ItemCode=1094