Decree upon the Dead that He Is Forgotten from the Heart
The nature of the world is that the dead are eventually forgotten from the hearts of people, or that the intensity of the pain from our loss diminishes and fades with time.
(The Rabbis taught: Three matters come to thought to be created, and if they did not come - it is a law that they will come: concerning the dead who rot, and concerning the dead who are forgotten from the heart, and concerning the produce that rots - Pesachim 54b. And similarly: "He refused consolation... that upon the dead a decree was made that he be forgotten from the heart and not upon the living" - Rashi on Genesis 37:38. And similarly: "And if a covenant was made with a dead man who is forgotten from the heart, I did not divert my mind from him even for a moment. And to alleviate my sorrow, I united with his soul and repeated the words of his Torah" - Mordechai ben Yehezkel, Sefer HaMa'asiyot, Fourth Part, The Barefoot Tzaddik, page 99.)
Translation
Expression (Hebrew)
גְּזִירָה עַל הַמֵּת שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּכֵּחַ מִן הַלֵּב
Definition (Hebrew)
טֶבַע הָעוֹלָם הוּא שֶׁהַמֵּת נִשְׁכָּח לְבַסּוֹף מִלֵּב הָאֲנָשִׁים אוֹ שֶׁעָצְמַת הַכְּאֵב עַל אָבְדָנוֹ פּוֹחֶתֶת וְהוֹלֶכֶת עִם הַזְּמַן .
("תְּנוּ רַבָּנָן: שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים עָלוּ בְּמַחְשָׁבָה לִיבָּרְאוֹת, וְאִם לֹא עָלוּ- דִּין הוּא שֶׁיַּעֲלוּ: עַל הַמֵּת שֶׁיַּסְרִיחַ, וְעַל הַמֵּת שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּכֵּחַ מִן הַלֵּב, וְעַל הַתְּבוּאָה שֶׁתִּרְקַב"-פְּסָחִים נָד ע"ב, וְכֵן:"וַיְמָאֵן הִתְנַחֵם-..שֶׁעַל הַמֵּת נִגְזְרָה גְּזֵרָה שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּכַּח מִן הַלֵּב וְלֹא עַל הַחַי"- רָשִׁ"י בִּבְרֵאשִׁית לז לָהּ, וְכֵן:"וְאִם שֶׁבְּרִית כְּרוּתָה לְמֵת שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּכֵּחַ מִן הַלֵּב, לֹא הִסַּחְתִּי דַּעְתִּי מִמֶּנּוּ אַף רֶגַע. וּכְדֵי לְהָפִיג אֶת צַעֲרִי, הָיִיתִי מִתְיַחֵד עִם נִשְׁמָתוֹ, וְחוֹזֵר עַל דִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָתוֹ"- מָרְדְּכַי בֶּן יְחֶזְקֵאל/ סֵפֶר הַמַּעֲשִׂיּוֹת חֵלֶק רְבִיעִי, הַצַּדִּיק הַיָּחֵף, 99)