It’s not enough to have the right goals – they need to be pursued the right way.  Good ideas must be followed up by good planning and good execution, for otherwise they will remain only as ideas.

Even the righteous among us, whom we would naturally consider deserving of a bump-free road along the journey of life, are, like the rest of us, beset by personal travails of one type or another.  We come into this world as employees, not vacationers; we are given problems to solve and responsibilities to tend to, and cannot expect to be left alone to relax in unbridled comfort and ease.

Not everything which can be said should be said.  What troubled the brothers was not merely Yosef’s aspirations of leadership, but also his indiscretion in expressing these hopes to them. 

It seems that Yosef felt too assured that the butler was his ticket to freedom.  The Midrash perhaps seeks to instruct that although we are allowed and urged to strategize and use available means to address our problems, we must never assume to have the definitive solution.

Reuven and the other brothers heard Yosef’s dream together, but reacted in opposite ways. Reuven’s response to Yosef’s dreams should remind us that there is more one way to react to what we hear, and it is up to us to choose the favorable response in the interest of avoiding unnecessary strife and contention.

  Yosef began to appreciate the advantage of his prominent stature in Egypt over his compromised position back home – and this was his mistake. 

 How does the resemblance between the situations faced by Yaakov and Yehuda contribute to our understanding of the events?  It was specifically the tragic story of Yehuda’s sons that ultimately facilitated the brothers’ return to Egypt, as it allowed Yaakov to feel confident in Yehuda’s commitment to ensure Binyamin’s safe return.

לפניכם קטע מתוך דף הלימוד של "מתן על הפרק" בו תמצאו שאלות מנחות והרחבות לעיון והעמקה בפרק:

What is our attitude to those who, through either word or deed, call for a reevaluation of our priorities, passions and values?  

The Jewish monarchy, Rav Amital explained, cannot occur naturally, because it is not natural.  Its origins are shadowy because it itself is fraught with complexities.  As we firmly believe that all human beings are servants of the one King, it is no simple matter to appoint a human monarch who would exert his authority over the rest of the nation.