The Rashbam proposes that the brothers never sold Yosef.   Much to Reuven's surprise and horror,  by the time he arrived to rescue Yosef, the Midyanim had already pulled Yosef out and sold him to the Yishmaelites.

Specifically as a result of his mistake and pangs of remorse that surfaced in its wake, Reuven, much more so than his brothers, was sensitized to Yaakov's emotions and outright refused to do anything that would cause him anguish and grief. 

 The inclusion of Yosef's parents in the second dream proved that it was prophetic in nature, that Yosef beheld this dreams not as a result of his aspirations of authority, but as a form of prophecy.

Every so often, as we "walk lost in the field," when we lose our direction in life, distracted by the physical and material enjoyments this world has to offer, an "angel," our conscience, appears to us and asks, "What do you seek?" 

To be successful, in any area, a person must be prepared to pursue his goals even when obstacles arise and when the adrenaline ceases to flow, when the initial rush of idealism and determined resolve subsides.  

    Yosef, the young, perceptive "dreamer," understood what was developing in nearby Edom and recognized the need for the twelve sons of Yaakov to avoid this mistake.  Unfortunately, Yosef's brothers misunderstood Yosef's dreams as reflecting personal ambitions of power, rather than purely idealistic visions of Am Yisrael and genuine concern for their development into a strong, fortified people.

Yosef understood that private misconduct is as consequential as public disgrace, that being with Potifar's wife for a few moments in her home meant being with her eternally in the next world. 

    Towards the end of the haftara for Parashat Vayeshev, the prophet Amos poses a number of rhetorical questions, beginning with, "Do two walk together if they had not first convened?" ("Ha-yeilkhu shenayim yachdav bilti im no'adu" – Amos 3:3).  Ibn Ezra explains this verse as directed towards those who doubted the authenticity of the prophet's exhortations and warnings.  When two people happen to arrive at a certain location at the precise same time, it can be guaranteed that they had previously agreed to convene at that place at that time.  Similarly, if a prophet issue

    In the opening verse of the haftara for Parashat Vayeshev, the prophet Amos excoriates the Northern Kingdom of Israel for the corruption of the kingdom's upper class and its shameless disregard for the underprivileged.  In the context of his condemnation Amos decries the phenomenon of "sho'afim al afar eretz be-rosh dalim," which literally means, "those who trample upon the dust of the earth, upon the head of the destitute" (2:7).  To what exactly does the prophet refer in this verse?