וְאֵלֶּה שְמוֹת בְנֵי יִשְרָאֵל הַבָאִים מִצְרָיְמָה אֵת יַַֽעֲקֹב אִיש וּבֵיתוֹ בָאוּ.
And these are the names of the sons of Yisroel who came to Egypt; with Yaakov, each man and his household came. (Shemos 1:1)
When Bnei Yisroel went down to galus of Mitzrayim the Torah describes it as “אִיש וּבֵיתוֹ בָּאוּ”. But we already knew that from the previous parsha, where the Torah lists the names of the people who moved to Egypt with Yaakov Avinu! Why is this phrase necessary here? HaDrash Vehaiyun offers the following explanation: By writing אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ בָּאוּ Torah tells us that even though Bnei Yisroel went to a place of tumah, a place of people with bad middos, אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ בָּאוּ - the father and the children remained pure and connected to the Torah way.
So what helped them to remain strong? In the same verse, the Torah says that Bnei Yisroel went down to Egypt אֵת יַעֲקֹב - with Yaakov. We certainly knew this from the previous parsha. What is the Torah teaching us by saying that Bnei Yisroel went down to Egypt “with Yaakov”? The Pardes Yosef makes the following drasha from the words “with Yaakov”. Bnei Yisroel were able to keep a strong connection to the Torah in Mitzrayim, because in the midst of that galus they stayed connected to the middah of Yaakov — the middah of humility. This is the secret, says the Pardes Yosef, for how to protect our children from bad influence in every galus: Let your home be “with Yaakov” - with the middah of humility.
