Question

How do you understand the story about Rabbi in the Talmud? After he died, he would make kiddush for his household every Sabbath eve—did he come back to life each time? Did he not really die at all, and it only looked that way? What is the meaning of this? And regarding what his students said, it seems to me: “Whoever says Rabbi is dead shall be stabbed by a sword.” What is the problem with saying that he died, or what did they mean? And why did they leave him in the attic in the first place and not bury him?