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?

    Parashat Vayeshev tells of Yosef's brothers' hatred toward Yosef, which resulted in their casting him into a pit when he approached them as they shepherded their herds in Shekhem.  The brothers initially decided to kill Yosef directly, but Reuven, the oldest of the brothers, persuaded them to cast him into a pit, instead, with the intention of later rescuing Yosef from the pit.  Thereafter, however, the brothers decided to sell Yosef to passing merchants, and thus when Reuven returned to the pit, he discovered that Yosef was not there (37:29).

he story of Yosef and his brothers should perhaps remind us to suspend judgment about others until we draw close enough to them to see them face-to-face and hear what they really have to say.

As Rashi explains, the sons of Leah (Reuven, Shimon, Levi, Yehuda, Yissachar and Zevulun) disrespected the sons of Bilha and Zilpa, the maidservants of Rachel and Leah, respectively, whom Yaakov had married.  Leah's sons viewed the maidservants' sons as inferior and "second-class" members of the family, and therefore treated them with scorn and contempt.  Yosef made a point of befriending these four beleaguered brothers in an effort to compensate for the mistreatment they suffered at the hands of Leah's sons.

נבואת האמת במדרגתה העליונה הייתה ייחודית לישראל, אבל דתיות יש בכל העולם, ואפילו עובדי אלילים ידעו על 'אל עליון', שמעל ומעבר לכל האלים.

מלאכי מוכיח את העם על טענותיהם בנוגע לכך שהדברים אינם הולכים כפי שציפו והוא מנסה לעודד אותם ולהראות להם כי ה' עימם, עוד מוכיח מלאכי את הכהנים על תפקודם הלקוי במקדש דווקא בתקופה שהמקדש צריך חיזוק  ובכך מנסה לעודד אותם להחזיר עטרה ליושנה.

בחירת עם ישראל איננה שלילת מעלתם של הגויים אלא מערכת יחסים מיוחדת השמורה לעם ישראל עם הקב"ה