The Beis HaLevi, who served as the rabbi of the city of Brisk, was once studying with his son, Chaim, when a man entered to ask a question. The man had gotten into a major disagreement with a friend of his. In the heat of the moment, he took a vow swearing that he would never again see his friend. However, the friend had just passed away.
The man who took the vow served on the city’s chevrah kaddishah (organization that ritually prepares the dead for proper burial) and wanted to know if he was permitted to help prepare the body for the funeral. He reasoned that perhaps “seeing” his friend’s dead body wasn’t really considered seeing and wouldn’t violate his oath. He came to ask the rabbi’s opinion on the matter. The Beis HaLevi turned to his son, Chaim, then a young lad of eight, to ask for his thoughts on the subject.
Chaim replied that the question is explicitly answered in Exodus 14:13. Moshe told the Jewish people not to worry, as they would never again see their Egyptian oppressors. However, several verses later (Ex. 14:30), we are told that they saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. The Midrash explains that they didn’t see the Egyptian bodies from a distance. Each Jew was able to discern the face of the Egyptian who had been his personal taskmaster, which would seem to violate the promise made by Moshe. Rather, we can conclude from here that “seeing” somebody after their death isn’t considered seeing at all.
