When a person is afflicted with tzara'at (usually translated "leprosy"), he is sent outside the camp for at least a week. Obadiah Sforno says that this is to prompt him to ask God for forgiveness. The isolation enables him to contemplate his misdeeds, intentional and unintentional; this, in turn, might lead to personal improvement and repentance. So isolation leads to repentance which leads to God's forgiveness and his rehabilitation. (Comments on Leviticus 14:21)

Rabbi Sheshet said in the name of Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah: he who despises the festivals (by working on them and not celebrating) is like one who worships idols. This is because the command to have no molten gods is immediately followed by the command to keep the festival of unleavened bread. (Pesachim 118a)

Rabbi Sh'muel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: Betzalel was so called on account of his wisdom. At the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "Go and tell Betzalel to make me a tabernacle, an ark and vessels", Moshe went and reversed the order, saying, "Make an ark and vessels and a tabernacle". Betzalel said to Moshe: "As a rule a man first builds a house and then brings vessels into it, but you say, make me an ark and vessels and a tabernacle. Where shall I put the vessels that I am to make? Can it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to you, make a tabernacle, an ark and vessels?" Moshe replied, "Perhaps you were in the shadow of God [1] and knew!" (B'rachot 55a)

[1] B'tzal Eil.

The talmud says that the time of Mordechai and Esther was "darker than night", because even at night we have the moon and stars to shed light. The rabbis compare Esther to the dawn; as light gradually increases, so did Israel's redemption through Esther: first Mordechai sat at the gate, then Esther arose as queen, then the king could not sleep (which led to Mordechai's reward), and finally Esther was able to reverse the king's decree. (Yoma 29a)

Parshat Mishpatim enumerates a variety of commandments for the Jewish people. The rabbis ask what is the purpose of the commandments? According to Rabbi Abahu, they are not just to improve us but to improve the world as well. He compares Israel to a gardener tending an orchard; the commandments are like the instructions given to the gardener. If they are followed, the orchard will survive, bloom, and provide food for all who need it. (Exodus Rabbah 30:9)

"Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to go forth." When the Israelites found themselves at the sea of reeds, with Paro's army bearing down on them, Moshe prayed to God for guidance. Rabbi Eliezer says that God said to him: there is a time for brevity and a time for length. My children are threatened: quit talking to me and tell them to go forth! (Exodus Rabbah 21:8)

When God sent the plague of blood, it affected not just the Nile but all Egyptian water. Rabbi Avun ha-Levi said that if a Jew and an Egyptian sat together, drinking from the same jug, the Jew drank water while for the Egyptian it was blood. Even if the Egyptian had the Jew pour the water for him, it turned to blood in his hands. Only if the Egyptian paid money for the water did it remain water. (Exodus Rabbah 9:10)

I think this is a sad midrash in one way. If, in the midst of oppression and plagues, a Jew and an Egyptian were able to sit down together as peers (which would be pretty remarkable), wouldn't a better teaching be that for that Egyptian, the water stayed water? But perhaps my modern thinking informs this; such a thing would certainly have undermined some of the power of the plagues. The p'shat (plain reading) of the torah account does not seem to allow for innocent Egyptians, which troubles me. I think we're supposed to read it at the grand, national level, not at the level of individual participants. I have trouble doing that sometimes.

When Yosef was a slave in Potiphar's house, God was with him and everything he touched prospered. Potiphar saw that this was so and rewarded Yosef. In time Yosef said "I am eating well and drinking well; blessed be God who has let me forget my father's house". At this God said "how can you enjoy yourself while your father mourns?", and it was then that God sent Potiphar's wife after Yosef. (Genesis Rabbah 86:5)

(My translation of Sefer Ha-Agaddah, where I found this, actually has God saying "you spoiled brat!"; I don't know how literal (vs. evocative) that is.)

The torah describes Leah as having eyes that are weak. The midrash says that as she grew up, she heard people say that it's fortunate that Rivka had two sons while her brother Lavan had two daughters, because now the older son would marry the older daughter and the younger son would marry the younger daughter. Leah, the older daughter, inquired about Eisav, the older son, and when she found out what kind of man he was she cried until her eyes grew weak. (Genesis Rabbah 70:16)

(Hmm, how weird. I really did send that with two paragraphs. Let's try again.)

When Eliezer seeks to acquire Rivka as a bride for Yitzchak, he negotiates with her brother and mother. Where was her father, Betuel, in all this? According to Rashi, Betuel sought to block the marriage, even in the face of a divine sign. Worse yet, he sought to block it by poisoning Eliezer. However, an angel of God switched the cups so that Betuel, not Eliezer, was poisoned. (24:55)

(I really need to get a Rashi instead of relying on secondary sources' citations...)