As the brothers plotted to kill Yosef, Reuven’s mind flashed back to his own sinful act committed on impulse, and he immediately intervened in an attempt to save his brothers from a similar mistake.

     What significance might there be to this symbolism of Yosef’s “wandering about in the field,” which represented the Jews’ “wandering” in exile?   Even when it might outwardly appear that we are “wandering about” aimlessly, lost and without purpose, we must ensure that we are, in truth, living with the clear aim and objective of serving our Creator. 

At a time when the brothers unanimously and passionately decided upon killing Yosef, Reuven managed to transcend the “groupthink” and reach a different decision.  He withdrew from the consensus and went against the grain.  He set the precedent of the “arei miklat” by setting himself apart, by not being afraid to think differently and oppose the group’s immoral decision. 

The trust shown to him by Potifar, in Yosef’s mind, raised the level of expectations and of the standards he was to maintain in his capacity as Potifar’s servant.  

 The Midrash here reminds us how easy it is to concoct justifications for even that which is unquestionably wrong.

 Rashi, in a famous passage in his Torah commentary (beginning of Parashat Vayeshev), presents the following introduction to the story of Yosef and his brothers, citing from the Midrash:

Yaakov sought to dwell in tranquility, but then the anguish of Yosef immediately pounced on him.  The righteous seek to dwell in tranquility, but the Almighty says: “Is it not enough for the righteous that which is prepared for them in the next world, that they seek to live in tranquility even in this world?”