The Middah of Temimus:
Sefer Divrei Yisroel quotes the Medrash (Tanchuma 50) that learns this pasuk to mean that they all came in the merit of Yaakov.
He asks why the pasuk uses the name “Yaakov”, which symbolizes a lower stature than the name “Yisroel”, which connotes his more glorious nature (Zohar, Balak 210:2).
He answers that this is meant to teach us an important lesson. Yaakov Avinu epitomized the trait of temimus (serving Hashem with simplicity), as is stated (Bereishis 25:27): “Yaakov was a simple man (ish tam’).” Rashi (Devarim 18:13) explains the concept of temimus on the pasuk that commands us to be “tamim” with Hashem by saying: “Walk with Him with simplicity and do not make inquiries.” Even if a person is very smart and is able to understand many things, he should trust in Hashem with simplicity and not as a result of intellectual determinations.
This idea is hinted to in the verse (Mishlei 10:9): “Holech b’tom yeilech betach.” (He who walks with simplicity will walk securely.) The last letters of these words spell out the “chochom”. This teaches us that even a wise man should not rely on his wisdom. Rather, he should simply rely on Hashem for his security.
The middah of temimus is what separates the wise men of Yisroel from the wise men of the nations of the world, as Rava told a tziduki (Shabbos 88B). The wise men of the nations always engage in philosophy and trying to figure things out through their intellect. The wise men of Yisroel, however, do not rely on their intellect and, instead, simply place their trust in Hashem.
This concept is seen from the pasuk (Devarim 4:6): “And you shall keep (v’shamartem) and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples.” The word “v’ashamartem” can be read as “v’shamar tam”, you shall keep yourself as a simple person. Thus, the pasuk is saying that when one has the middah of temimus, he is different than the gentiles, who engage in questioning and philosophy.
This is also seen from the verse (Devarim 11:16): “Beware, lest your heart be misled, and you turn away (v’sartem) and worship strange gods.” The word “v’sartem” can be read “v’sar tam”, you will turn away from being a simple person. If one turns away from temimus and engages in inquiries and questioning Hashem’s ways, it is considered as if he worshiped strange gods because this is the way of the non-Jews.
With this in mind, we can explain the Medrash that says that they came to Egypt with the merit of Yaakov. The middah of temimus is an inheritance from Yaakov, who epitomized this trait. This is the quality that his offspring took with them down to Egypt. This also explains why the name “Yaakov” is used in this verse, as opposed to the name “Yisroel”, as this name represents his middah of temimus.
In this vein, Pharaoh said that he wanted to outsmart the Jew (Shemos 1:10). His intent was that he wanted to use the middah of chochmah to defeat them. He knew that as long as they remained with the trait of temimus, they would always be secure and he would be unable to beat them. Therefore, he wanted to find a way to get them to engage in intellectualism and philosophy, so that they would abandon their temimus and he would be able to defeat them.
Rashi explains that Pharaoh was saying that he wanted to outsmart “the savior of Yisroel.” This can be explained to mean that he wanted to defeat the middah of temimus, which is what saves Klal Yisroel, by getting them to engage in inquiries and questions. Rashi then says that Pharaoh wanted to punish them “with water”. This hints to the wisdom of the world, which is compared to water (as in Mishlei 18:4: “Deep waters, the source of wisdom.”) He...
