וְאֵלֶּה שְ ׁמוֹת בְ ּנֵי יִשְ ׂרָ אֵל הַבָּאִ ים מִ צְרָ יְמָה וגו' (א, א)
And these are the names of the sons of Yisroel who came to Egypt. (1:1)
Every Jewish Name is Found in this Parshah:
Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a (quoted in Sefer M’Zekeinim Esbonen, Chelek 1, page 35) relates that there once was a chasid who traveled to spend time in the presence of the Tiferes Shlomo of Radomsk zy”a. Before he embarked on his journey, a sick man in his town asked him to mention his name to the tzadik and ask for a bracha for a refuah sheleimah.
When the chasid reached Radmosk, he entered the Rebbe’s room with a kvittel, upon which was written his name and the names of his family members. When he wanted to mention the name of the sick man, he was dismayed to realize that he had forgotten the name. He stood silently for a few minutes, trying to remember, but he was unable to do so. This caused him to become very upset.
The Rebbe asked him, “Why do you look so anguished?”
He replied that a sick man from his town had asked him to mention his name to the Rebbe, but he had forgotten it.
The Rebbe told him to try to remember. He thought and thought for a long time but he simply could not recall the name. Finally, the Rebbe asked him, “Is his name such-and-such?” Upon hearing the name the Rebbe said, the chasid remembered that this was, in fact, the man’s exact name. He asked the Rebbe in amazement how he knew and the Rebbe told him, “The Torah says: ‘These are the names of the children of Yisroel...’ Every Jewish name is found in this Parshah. One who has clean, pure eyes can see the names of every Jew in every generation!”
