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The Posuk says (Gen 47:29):

וְעָשִׂיתָ עִמָּדִי חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת

Translated as do with me Kindness and truth Rashi is bothered that Chesed and Emes are two different things so Rashi says:

חסד ואמת: חסד שעושין עם המתים הוא חסד של אמת, שאינו מצפה לתשלום גמול

Translated as: Kindness done with the dead as you know you can not pay back

The question is in Parshas Chayei Sarah (Gen 24:49) it uses the term

וְעַתָּה אִם-יֶשְׁכֶם עֹשִׂים חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת, אֶת-אֲדֹנִי--הַגִּידוּ לִי

and it is not for the dead,this is not Chesed Shel Emes. This was Chesed V’emes. So it is difficult to understand what bothered Rashi in our Parsha when we find this expression mentioned elsewhere?

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  • I had the same question. Thank you for the earlier source to strength the question.
    – Lee
    Jan 12, 2017 at 10:09
  • It turns out the phrase "חסד ואמת" appears myriad times across TaNa"Kh only making the question stronger.
    – Lee
    Jan 12, 2017 at 11:37

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In the context of Rivka, Sforno explains: I'm asking for "kindness" of you to watch your little girl leave home; but the "truth" is we all know this is what's best for her.

In the case of burial it's a different dynamic: true kindness.

(Or as my father likes to quote Yogi Bera, "you should go to other people's funerals so they'll go to yours.")

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