These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph (Gen. 37:2)
The name Joseph (Yosef) comes from the Hebrew meaning to add or increase. Jacob is symbolic of every Jew. The lesson to be derived is that a Jew must never allow himself to stagnate, but must always climb upward along the spiritual "ladder" of Yiddishkeit. (Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Riminov)
And they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him (Gen. 37:4)
The main component of all controversy is the absence of dialogue, the unwillingness to listen to what someone else has to say and understand it from his perspective. If people would really know how to talk to each other, most of the time they would discover that they have nothing to argue about. (Rabbi Yonatan Eibeschitz)
In my dream, behold, a vine was before me (Gen. 40:9)
Why did Joseph interpret the chief butler's dream optimistically, whereas the chief baker's dream received a negative interpretation? The chief butler had dreamt about the fruits of the Land of Israel, which are the handiworks of G-d rather than of man. The chief baker, by contrast, dreamt about baked goods, which are made by man and symbolize an arrogant attitude of "my strength and the strength of my hands." Such a dream, Joseph figured, could not bode well for the future. (Nahar Shalom)
Reprinted from the Parashat Vayeishev 5762/2001 edition of L’Chaim.
