The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
Rabbi Frand's vort related to Bereishis 42:3 which states וַיֵּֽרְד֥וּ אֲחֵֽי־יוֹסֵ֖ף עֲשָׂרָ֑ה לִשְׁבֹּ֥ר בָּ֖ר מִמִּצְרָֽיִם. Rashi asks - why are they called the brothers of Yosef and not the sons of Ya'akov or Yisrael? He answers that they are called the brothers of Yosef because at this time they had charata - regret for the sale of Yosef.
Rabbi Frand then asked - if they were showing regret for the sale of Yosef now, why did they need to undergo the ordeal of the rest of Mikeitz and Vayigash where they were accused of being spies and had various imprisonments and were threatened with the loss of Binyamin?
Rabbi Frand answered by quoting the Sfas Emes who observes the same quandary by Yosef. When Yosef did not stray when being seduced by the wife of Potiphar he earned the title HaTzadik. The Rambam in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah writes that someone who does not commit a sin because of fear or for kavod can be compared to Yosef HaTzadik. So why did Yosef undergo multiple years in prison after rising to the challenge?
The Sfas Emes answers that when Hashem sees that a person has made a major step up in his teshuva or yirah, now I can test him. The brothers realized that they were wrong and did real teshuva and that put them on a higher level, so Hashem said - they can handle more. So too by Yosef, once he showed that he could withstand the wife of Potiphar, he demonstrated to Hashem that he could handle more.
Rabbi Frand gave his own example of a person who takes steps in becoming a ba'al teshuva - eventually closing their business on Shabbos and becoming frum in all ways. And there are stories about people who lose their business, or their spouse leaves them because they don't want to be frum. This may not seem fair to us, but Hashem knows that this person can handle more and He knows what is best.
Rabbi Frand said a second vort based on the pasuk in Bereishis 41:50 - וּלְיוֹסֵ֤ף יֻלָּד֙ שְׁנֵ֣י בָנִ֔ים בְּטֶ֥רֶם תָּב֖וֹא שְׁנַ֣ת הָֽרָעָ֑ב. The Ba'al HaTurim notes that the word וּלְיוֹסֵ֤ף appears one other time in the Torah - in V'Zos HaBracha where the Torah writes in Devarim 33:13 - וּלְיוֹסֵ֣ף אָמַ֔ר מְבֹרֶ֥כֶת יְהֹוָ֖ה אַרְצ֑וֹ מִמֶּ֤גֶד שָׁמַ֨יִם֙ מִטָּ֔ל וּמִתְּה֖וֹם רֹבֶ֥צֶת תָּֽחַת.
What is the connection?
The Ba'al HaTurim explains that Yosef held back from marital relations during the time of famine as although he lived in the palace, everyone else was suffering. As a result he was rewarded that his tribe would receive the most fertile land in Israel
R' Frand quoted R' Matisyahu Solomon who notes that the word Sneh appears twice in the Chumash. Moshe's first encounter with Hashem is at the Sneh and in Devarim 33:16 Yosef is blessed - וּמִמֶּ֗גֶד אֶ֚רֶץ וּמְלֹאָ֔הּ וּרְצ֥וֹן שֹֽׁכְנִ֖י סְנֶ֑ה. When Hashem greets Moshe He is in the Sneh to show that he is with the Jews in the their time of oppression in Egypt. Yosef who showed that he was together with the people in their time of trouble, is blessed with the land of sweetness by the One who dwelled in the Sneh.
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