In my humble opinion, it seems possible to explain in another, innovative way, and thereby resolve the questions we began with, according to the words of the holy Baal Shem Tov (Parshas Noach, section 141). This is his language: The reason why we say "Our God and God of our fathers" is that there are two types of people who believe in the Blessed God. One believes in the Holy One, Blessed be He, because he follows the ways of his ancestors, and despite this, his faith is strong. The second is someone who comes to faith in religion through inquiry. The difference between them is that the first type has an advantage that he cannot be swayed even if he is told several inquiries that contradict, God forbid, because his faith is strong due to the acceptance of his ancestors, and also because he has never inquired. But he has a disadvantage, which is that his faith is just a routine practice of people, without taste and reason. But the second type has an advantage, that because he recognizes the Blessed Creator due to the greatness of his inquiry, he is strong in complete faith and perfect love. However, he also has a disadvantage, that he can be easily swayed, and if he is given evidence that contradicts his inquiries, he could be swayed, God forbid. But someone who possesses both qualities, there is no one greater than him, that is, he relies on his ancient ancestors with strength, and also comes to faith through his own inquiry, this is complete and good faith. And this is why we say "Our God and God of our fathers."

Additionally, the verse (Psalms 34:9) can be interpreted in this way: "Taste and see that the Lord is good." This means "Taste" - to feel the taste by yourself, that is through inquiry. "And see" - the language of seeing what you see from others' conduct as our ancestors conducted. End of quote.

Also, the Kedushas Levi (Bereishis 32:26) deals with this matter and writes as follows: "And he saw that he could not prevail against him, and he touched the hollow of his thigh" - the matter is similar to the three worlds: the world of the Seraphim, the world of the spheres, and the lower world (Guide for the Perplexed, Part 2, Chapter 11). Similarly, in a person: the head corresponds to the world of the Seraphim, through which he perceives the Blessed Creator. The heart corresponds to the world of the spheres, as it is written in Sefer Yetzirah (see Chapter 6, Mishnah 2), "Heart and soul, sphere in the year," that through the understanding of the heart one can perceive the Blessed Creator due to the movement of the spheres. The thighs of a person correspond to the lower world, that is, he serves the Blessed Creator through faith, which indicates the legs, from the language of habit.

And this is the hint "and he touched the hollow of his thigh," that one who serves through faith can be confused, God forbid. And this is "and the sun rose upon him" (Bereishis 32:32), that he began to serve the Blessed Creator with intellect, and for one who serves with intellect, he cannot be confused. And this is the hint "and he said, no longer Jacob" (Bereishis 32:29), because 'Jacob' indicates lower service, the letter Yud at the heel (see Etz Chaim, Gate 3, Chapter 2), "but Israel," which indicates higher service, 'Li Rosh' (Likutei Torah, Psalms 110). End of quote.

And behold, although it appears that the Baal Shem Tov and the Kedushas Levi differ in defining the merit of a believer solely through ancestral acceptance, where the Baal Shem Tov sees both merit and deficiency, and the believer through inquiry also has merit and deficiency, but opposite ones, whereas from the words of the Kedushas Levi it emerges that one who serves solely through ancestral faith is definitely inferior in rank to one who serves with intellect - nevertheless, they both certainly agree that a person who stands on both merits, relying on both ancestral acceptance and personal inquiry, stands in the highest rank of all. Therefore, it can be said that this is the rank that was added to Israel after the splitting of the Sea, which they did not have before, and now they have merited it - that until now their faith was due to ancestral acceptance alone, and therefore God commanded Moses when He sent him to Israel for the first time to announce the news of redemption, to speak to them in the name of the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, as told in Parshas Shemos (Exodus 3:15-16), because they did not recognize Him by themselves, only through ancestral acceptance. But now, after they saw the great hand, etc., they believed in the Lord and in Moses His servant through intellect and inquiry. And indeed, it is possible that their faith was even greater than faith through inquiry, for it was through sensory experience, through visual perception, as the verse says "And Israel saw," which is a higher rank than intellectual faith, for the entire purpose of inquiry is to bring things to the point where they can be seen, as it were, "with the eyes of the intellect," and if so, sensory perception is greater than that.

And perhaps based on this we can explain the words of King David (Psalms 22:5-6): "In You our fathers trusted; they trusted, and You delivered them. To You they cried out and were saved; in You they trusted and were not disappointed" - which at first glance, why should they be ashamed of their trust in God? According to our way, perhaps it can be said, that this is because their trust was not of the highest rank, but only due to ancestral acceptance, and about this David said, that even so they trusted and were not disappointed, but cried out and were saved.