These are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt, with Yaakov, each man and his household came.
One question that should be addressed is why the patriarch mentioned in this verse is identified at first as Yisroel and then as Yaakov. Another is why the tense of the term used to describe the movement of the family changes from the present to the past. And what does the conclusion of the verse add?
The Talmud* bemoans the dearth of those who are truly capable of administering rebuke. The reason for this seems to be that in order to rebuke one must identify with the recipient; by uniting with him he can elevate him. In a similar vein, Rav Yehudah Leib Pistyner** once explained,
the for ,ceased has one pious the For! Hashem ,Save ,הושיעה ה' כי גמר חסיד כי פסו אמונים מבני אדם faithful have disappeared from mankind.*** What caused the loss of the pious, the exceptionally devout? The plummet in honesty within society in general. In response to this interpretation, Heaven messaged R. Leib in a dream that, to the contrary, the verse means to teach that it is the dearth of pious examples that drags down society. In any event, it is a truism that human society is an interconnected ecosystem, its members influencing each other for better or for worse. Typically, when its more material members are on the ascendency, it influences the spiritual ones for the worse; and when the spiritual ones are on a high, it influences the material for the better.
The above inspired me to suggest a novel reading of another verse. חטאתם יעקב ולבית פשעם לעמי הגד, Relate to my nation their sin and to the House of Yaakov their iniquity.**** The Talmud***** identifies עמי as the Torah scholars and יעקב בית as the masses. Thus, when one rebukes the nation for its pitiful spiritual state, the scholars should be told that it was their sins which prompted it, while the masses should be told that it was due to their iniquities. Each group should focus on its own culpability.
,הוכח :as taken be can ,******הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך ולא תשא עליו חטא ,rebuke to imperative the ,Similarly rebuke yourself, עמיתך את תוכיח, as you rebuke your fellow, חטא עליו תשא ולא, and do not burden sin upon him alone. If one involves himself as a subject of the rebuke, it tempers its tone vis-à-vis the other party as well.
This may be the meaning of our verse. מצרימה הבאים ישראל בני, the elevated – those called Yisrael – descended to Egypt, i.e., the depths of impurity. What was the cause? יעקב את, the descent of the masses – who are called Yaakov, as above. Sometimes, though, the cause and effect are reversed.
איש, the elevated falter, באו וביתו, dragging down the public along with them. Thus, the third question above helped resolve the first one.
As far as the second question that we raised, it can be resolved with a parable that I heard from my mentor, the Besht. Imagine a forest populated by bandits. On one occasion, a pair of travelers – one of them thoroughly inebriated, the other sober – attempted to traverse it. As expected, the bandits fell upon them, seizing their every possession and beating them mercilessly; they narrowly emerged from the ordeal with their lives. On the other side of the woods, they encountered other travelers who inquired as to their experience in the forest. The drunkard responded that everything had gone smoothly; for the wounds that graced his body he had no explanation. His companion, on the other hand, was able to sternly warn them of the danger that awaited them there, advising them to sufficiently arm themselves before venturing in. Thus, both travelers shared in the same ordeal, yet only one was able to use it to provide guidance for others.
The same is true about the spiritual minefields that everyone must traverse. Some are adept at it, successfully surviving the challenge and emerging better people for it. Through their experience they are able to advise others in their ordeals. Others – not so.
Thus, ישראל בני, the elevated of the people earn their experience מצרימה הבאים, from that which they regularly make the trip to the nether regions of Egypt. In contrast, באו וביתו איש יעקב, the proletariat are unaccustomed to this challenge.
Alternatively, our verse can be understood as a response to a conundrum raised in the medieval work of aphorisms, Mivchar HaPeninim.******* The Sage was asked who was greater: the wise or the wealthy? When he responded: the wise, he was challenged: why, then, do the wise patronize the wealthy more than the wealthy patronize the wise? He responded: Because the wise, in their wisdom, appreciate the value of the wealthy, while the wealthy, in their lack of wisdom, do not appreciate the value of the wise.
The Torah’s take on this is that different people were given different strengths and weaknesses so that they could mutually benefit one another. As such, מצרימה הבאים ישראל בני שמות ואלה, the Jewish People were inserted into the straights (מצרים(, the poverty, of Egypt. Why? יעקב את, so that they will need to come onto the wealthy who lack wisdom (יעקב, lit. heel, symbolic of unintelligent density). The hope is that the wise will then better the wealthy intellectually. But why is disparity necessary? It would seem much simpler to make everyone wealthy and wise! The answer is איש
באו וביתו. איש is the משפיע, the benefactor, while וביתו is the מושפע, the beneficiary. Since the world was created to share kindness, there must be haves and haves-not.
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* Erechin 16b. ** See Bereishis, n. 12. *** Tehillim 12:2. **** Ibid., 58:1. ***** Baba Metzia 33b. ****** Vayikra 19:17. ******* Sha’ar HaChochmah, 36