When Moses’ time came, he requested not to be handed to the angel of death. Therefore, God Himself tended to his death and his burial, and collected Moses’ soul after it refused to separate from his sacred body.

A divine voice [bat kol] emerged and said: The time of your death has arrived. Moses said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, remember the day that You appeared to me in the bush, and You said to me: “Go, and I will send you to Pharaoh; and take My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10). Remember the day that I was standing on Mount Sinai forty days and forty nights. I implore You, do not hand me to the angel of death. A divine voice emerged and said to him: Have no fear; I Myself will tend to you and your burial.

At that moment, Moses stood and sanctified himself like the seraphs, and the Holy One, blessed be He, descended from the highest heavens to take Moses’ soul. Three ministering angels were with Him: Mikhael, Gavriel, and Zagzagel. Mikhael prepared Moses’ bed, Gavriel spread a garment of fine linen under his head, and Zagzagel spread a garment of fine linen for his legs. Mikhael was on one side and Gavriel was on one side.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses, close your eyelids, and he closed his eyelids. He said to Moses: Place your hands on your chest, and he placed his hands on his chest. He said to Moses: Put your legs together, and he put his legs together.

At that moment, the Holy One, blessed be He, called his soul from within his body. He said to it: My daughter, I allocated 120 years for you to be in Moses’ body; now the time has come to leave. Leave and do not tarry. Moses’ soul said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, I know that You are the God of all spirits, and all the souls. The souls of the living and the souls of the dead are given in Your hand, and You created me, You formed me, and You placed me in Moses’ body for 120 years. Now, is there a body in the world purer than the body of Moses, in which no putrid spirit, lice, or intestinal worms were ever seen? That is why I love him and do not want to leave him.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to it: Soul, leave and do not tarry, and I will elevate you to the highest heavens and I will place you beneath the throne of My glory with the cherubs, the seraphs, and the troops of angels.…

At that moment, the Holy One, blessed be He, kissed Moses and took his soul with a kiss on the mouth. The Holy One, blessed be He, was crying, saying: “Who will rise up for Me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for Me against the evildoers?” (Psalms 94:16). The divine spirit was saying: “And there has not arisen another prophet in Israel like Moses” (Deuteronomy 34:10). The heavens were crying and saying: “The virtuous one is lost from the land” (Micha 7:2). The earth was crying and saying: “And the upright among people is no more” (Micha 7:2).

When Joshua was seeking Moses his master and did not find him, he was crying and saying: “Help, Lord, for the faithful man is no more, for trustworthiness has disappeared from among men” (Psalms 12:2). The ministering angels were saying: “He performed the righteousness of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 33:21), and the Israelites were saying: “And His ordinances with Israel” (33:21).

These and those were saying: “May he depart in peace, may he who walks in his uprightness rest on their resting places” (Isaiah 57:2). “The memory of the righteous is a blessing” (Proverbs 10:7), and his soul is destined for life in the World to Come. (Devarim Rabba 11)