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Someone told to me that the Zohar mentions that we close the eyes of the deceased, because the texture, colors and shapes of this world are in our eyes. However, in order to allow the deceased to see the new world, you have to close their eyes, which are open to this world.”

Where does the Zohar say this?

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    Is the Zohar the interpretation of placing his hands meaning closing? Otherwise what here is not directly from the verse?
    – Y     e     z
    Commented Sep 1, 2014 at 18:11
  • i would guess that what is not directly from the verse is the interpretation (i.e. close your eyes), meaning that Yosef will be at Yaakov's deathbed. This is the interpretation given by Ibn Ezra. He wants to know if and where Zohar says this. yeshiva.co/midrash/shiur.asp?cat=25&id=1905&q=
    – josh waxman
    Commented Sep 1, 2014 at 22:14
  • It appears that the idiom is from the fact that the eyes of the dead are closed as explained in judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/45011/…
    – sabbahillel
    Commented Sep 1, 2014 at 23:08

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It's hinted to in the Zohar in VaYechi - search for the words יָשִׁית יָדוֹ

The second instance on that page says:

יָשִׁית יָדוֹ עַל עֵינֶיךָ. מַאי קָא מַיְירֵי. אָמַר רִבִּי יֵיסָא, בְּגִין יְקָרָא דְיַעֲקֹב, וּלְאִתְבַּשְּׂרָא דְּהָא יוֹסֵף קַיָּים, וְיִשְׁתַּכַּח עֲלֵיהּ בְּמִיתָתֵיהּ.

Meaning that Yosef will be present when you die.

The third instance seems to discuss why we close a dead person's eyes. (Please don't ask me to explain Kabalistic concepts.)

But no need to go to the Zohar.

Here are 2 layman sources:

  1. Ibn Ezra on that Pasuk:

    ויוסף ישית ידו על עיניך. במותך כי כן מנהג החיים עם המתים: (אבן עזרא) ‏

  2. Bal HaTurim on that Pasuk:

    ויוסף ישית ידו על עיניך. יעצים עיניך כשתמות הבטיחו שלא ימות בחייו: (בעל הטורים) ‏

To see them in context, go to this page on Torat Emet.

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