Tamim, Temima, and Tam

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In Lecha Lecha 17:1, Hashem addresses Avram directly and tells him: "הִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ לְפָנַ֖י וֶֽהְיֵ֥ה תָמִֽים"
Walk before Me and be perfect.

 We don't find a parallel injunction to his son Yitzchak, though Yitzchak did achieve temimus at the akeida. Chazal say that he achieve the status of an olah temima - a perfect burnt offering.  By the next generation, we have Yaakov who is described in Parshas Toldos (25:27) as an ish tam yosheve ohalim אִ֣ישׁ תָּ֔ם ישֵׁ֖ב אֹֽהָלִֽים. 

In context, this is a contrast to Esav who is the  אִ֛ישׁ יֹדֵ֥עַ צַ֖יִד אִ֣ישׁ שָׂדֶ֑ה  a man with hunting expertise, a man of the field. One brother goes out to hunt, and the other sits in the tent. The inclination for the field is what made Yitzchak -- the man who in Chaye Sarah 24:63 is first seen by Rivka when he goes out to the field for his afternoon prayer  וַיֵּצֵ֥א יִצְחָ֛ק לָשׂ֥וּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶ֖ה. Naturally, Yitzchak thought that Esav's preoccupation with the field indicated a similar spiritual interest, something he failed to detect in Yaakov's staying in the tent, as I wrote her: http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2009/11/thought-about-houses-and-fields.html.

However, what Yaakov perfected in building up the third leg of the stool to stand steady was the study of Torah. He wasn't an ish ohalim the way Esav was an ish sadeh. but an  אִ֣ישׁ תָּ֔ם who dwells in tents. Rashi  cites the Midrash in explaining the tents in the plural as an allusion to the tent of Shem and the tent of Ever. Yaakov wasn't just sitting around but diligently absorbing Torah. That is because he became he embodied that perfect state that was the goal set for Avraham and that Yitzchak achieved through willing self-sacrifice through his constant work on Torah.

This is what we mean in saying the words of Bilam ( Balak 24:5) מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹֽהָלֶ֖יךָ יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב ma tovu oahlecha Yaakov. It's not about the tents themselves but about using them the way Yaakov did to achieve the level of perfection inherent in being an ish tam.


Related: http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2009/11/yitzchak-greets-his-bride.html


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