Death and Impurity

 Kli Yakar (Vayikra 21:03) The reason for the prohibition of impurity is because of the spirit of impurity that remains attached to the human body. Therefore it is said he shall not become impure for a soul and it does not say “by a soul” because the soul itself is pure and has no aspect of impurity. However, the soul is the cause of impurity because all other living creatures that do not have a rational soul but only a life force — their death is merely the separation of the four elements, and the Angel of Death is not involved with them at all. Therefore, they do not have severe impurity. But the human soul does not depart except through the Angel of Death, who removes it from there against its will, as our Sages said, “Against your will you die.” The Angel of Death comes from the side of impurity and brings impurity upon the body. This excludes the righteous and unique individuals of the generation whose death is by a divine kiss, not through the Angel of Death, and they have no aspect of impurity at all. Therefore, our Sages said that on the day Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi died, the priesthood was suspended because the priests did not become impure from him at all. 

 Recanti (Chukas 19:14) This is the law of one who dies in the tent. You already know that a gentile, while alive, is impure and transmits impurity due to the impurity dwelling within his body; yet when he dies, that spirit departs from him, and therefore he does not transmit impurity via a tent—for the established principle among us is that the graves of gentiles do not transmit impurity via a tent, based on the verse "When a *man* dies," implying that the nations of the world are not designated as "*man*." However, the case of a Jew is the opposite: during his lifetime, a holy spirit dwells within him, yet upon death, he is impure and transmits impurity. There is a profound mystery here: when the spirit of impurity perceives a vessel of purity—now devoid of the holy spirit—it comes and settles within it, rendering everything inside it impure and capable of transmitting impurity. For this reason, it is customary to guard the bodies of the dead to prevent an evil spirit from entering them, for they yearn to complete their formation—understand this well.