About Whom Do We Say Deceased and About Whom Dead?

Good week,

In our time, it is customary to say deceased about a righteous person who has passed away, and dead about a person who is not righteous; however, there is no basis for this in the sources. On the contrary, we find the expression dead even regarding the righteous of the generations - Moshe Rabbeinu - as it is said (Joshua 1:2), My servant Moshe is dead.

And we find the expression deceased even regarding a non-Jew - as they said (Midrash Agadah to Genesis 50:2) concerning the embalming of the kings of Egypt. And what is embalming? It teaches that if a king had died, they would cut open his belly and remove his innards so that he would not rot.

With blessing,

Hillel Meirs