The Basics of Judaism: Sin and Repentance: The Bodies of Tzadikim Decaying:
Do the bodies of the righteous (tzadikim) decay? Moses took Joseph's bones out of Egypt; does this mean that his body had decayed?
The statement about the bodies of tzadikim is found in the Midrash
Tanchuma, where it says that worms do not attack their flesh. This
isn't inconsistent with the possibility that their flesh can
decompose and turn into dust. Joseph was embalmed (Gen.50:26), so more than
his bones surely survived until Moses' time; when "Joseph's bones"
are referred to, the phrase can be interpreted loosely as referring
to his body.
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