They (Yosef’s brothers) told him (Yaakov), saying, “Yosef is still alive,” and he is ruler over the entire land of Mitzrayim; but he (Yaakov) had a turn of heart, for he did not believe them. And they related to him all the words of Yosef that he had spoken to them, and he saw the wagons that Yosef had sent to transport him, then the spirit of their father Yaakov was revived. And Yisrael said, “How great! My son Yosef still lives! I shall go and see him before I die.”
Note that this narrative initially employs the name Yaakov— "ותחי רוח יעקב אביהם"—but concludes with the name Yisrael: "ויאמר ישראל רב עוד יוסף בני חי". Additionally, it behooves us to examine what they expounded in the Midrash on this last passuk (B.R. 94, 3): And Yisrael said, “How great! . . .” By this he meant, “The strength of my son Yosef is great; he has experienced many hardships, and yet he remains righteous.” In other words, Yaakov remarked that Yosef was considered alive— "חי"—because he remained righteous; as opposed to reshaim, who are considered dead even while they are still living. But this begs the question: How did Yaakov know that Yosef had remained righteous?
We can answer this question based on what we learned from the Ohr HaChaim hakadosh. When Yosef was sold, the neshamah of Yisrael abandoned him. As explained, that neshamah was the image of Yaakov that appeared to Yosef to help him overcome his yetzer. Thus, until the neshamah of Yisrael returned to Yaakov, he had no way of knowing that Yosef had remained righteous. Yet, the moment it returned to him, after visiting Yosef, Yaakov knew from the neshamah of Yisrael that Yosef was still a tzaddik.
Accordingly, the precise language of the narrative can be explained wonderfully: “They told him, saying, ‘Yosef is still alive,’ and he is ruler over the entire land of Mitzrayim; but he had a turn of heart, for he did not believe them.” Yaakov had been shown Yosef’s bloody garment, so he still believed that Yosef had been eaten by a wild animal; hence, he did not believe what these sons told him. “And they related to him all the words of Yosef that he had spoken to them, and he saw the wagons that Yosef had sent to transport him.” Here Rashi comments: He (Yosef) gave them (his brothers) a sign indicating which topic he was studying when he departed from him (Yaakov), in the passage of the “eglah arufah.” This sign convinced Yaakov that Yosef was indeed still alive in Mitzrayim.
He was so elated! Hence: “The spirit of their father Yaakov was revived”—his spirit was revived by the return of the neshamah of Yisrael; it informed him that Yosef had remained righteous. It knew this firsthand, since it had been with Yosef and had helped him overcome his difficult ordeal and defeat his yetzer. Therefore, the narrative goes back to calling him Yisrael, as it states: “And Yisrael said, ‘How great! My son Yosef still lives! I shall go and see him before I die.’”
