Musar על שמות 1:1

How pleasant is the Musar of Love. Anyone whom Hashem loves, God brings down upon them suffering. You find three good gifts that God gave to Israel; and they were only given by way of suffering. These are them: Torah, the Land of Israel, and the World to Come.

This experience led to a refinement of the character of the Jewish people. The Zohar, Parshat Shemot (Sullam edition page 48), quotes Rabbi Shimon: "When the Divine Presence descended into Egypt, (with Jacob), one חיה of the 4 חיות that form the Divine entourage descended with it. This חיה was called "Israel," i.e. it was accompanied by 42 angels (compare Ezekiel 1,5, and the Malbim's comment there. Ed.). These are the בני ישראל that are reported to have descended to Egypt with Jacob (Exodus 1,1).

Having this in mind, we can understand an enigmatic Midrash Rabbah Genesis 63,3 on this פרשה: "These are the descendants of Isaac the son of Abraham, Abraham begat Isaac. Abraham was called Abraham; Isaac was called Abraham for the Torah says "these are the descendants of Abraham, Abraham." Jacob's name was called Israel because the Torah says in Genesis 32,29: "He said to him: 'Your name will no longer be called Jacob but Israel.' Isaac was called Israel, as the Torah says in Exodus 1,1 'And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob.' Abraham is called Israel." Rabbi Natan added that there is a profound meaning in: ומושב בני ישראל אשר ישבו במצרים ובארץ כנען ובארץ גשן שלושים שנה וארבע מאות שנה. "The period that the children of Israel lived in Egypt, Goshen and Canaan respectively prior to the Exodus was 430 years."

Why did the Midrash have to mention that Abraham's name was Abraham? Why did the Midrash have to mention that Jacob was called Israel? Both of these facts are recorded in the Torah explicitly! Another difficulty is that since the patriarchs are viewed as a group, why are Jacob and Isaac not also called Abraham? Neither, for that matter, do we find Abraham called Isaac? Why does the Midrash quote the verse from the beginning of the book of Exodus instead of quoting from Parshat Vayigash in which the descent of all the family of Jacob to Egypt is recorded? We find the identical wording to that in Exodus in Genesis 46,8. From that verse it is easier to conclude that Isaac was called Israel than from the verse in Exodus 1,1, since the stress in that latter verse is on the words את יעקב באו, they had come with Jacob. Rabbi Natan's statement emphasizing its profound meaning is puzzling. What profundity is there in his statement?