The Torah in Parashat Miketz tells of Yosef’s brothers’ experiences upon arriving in Egypt to purchase grain. Yosef, who supervised the distribution of grain, accused the brothers of spying and ordered them to bring their youngest brother – Binyamin – to prove their innocence. Before they left Egypt, Yosef had his servants fill the brothers’ bags with grain and to return the money which they had used to pay for it. During the brothers’ trip home to Canaan, they stopped off for lodging and one brother opened his bag and saw that his money was returned. The brothers were frightened, certain that the money was returned so they could then be accused of theft. The Torah tells that the brothers panicked and exclaimed, “What is this that God has done to us?!” 42:28).
The Gemara in Masekhet Ta’anit (9a) cites this verse as an example of a phenomenon described by King Shelomo in Mishlei (19:3): “Ivelet adam tesaleif darko ve-al Hashem yizaf libo” – “A person’s folly distorts his path, yet his heart is furious at the Lord.” King Shelomo observes how people often blame God for problems resulting from their own mistakes, and the Gemara points to the verse here in Parashat Miketz – “What is this that God has done to us?!” – as an example of this tendency. The Maharsha explains that Yosef’s brothers were partially to blame for this predicament, as they failed to check their luggage before they left Egypt. Their bags were, apparently, unattended for a period of time during their stay, as they were filled by Yosef’s servants with grain and money. The brothers knew their bags were being filled with grain (see 42:19), and the responsible thing would have been to check their bags before leaving to ensure that they were handled properly. Yet, rather than acknowledging that their irresponsibility resulted in the current crisis, they lamented, “What is this that God has done to us?!”
Chazal here teach us of the importance of personal responsibility and accepting the consequences of our mistakes. Our belief in hashgacha – divine providence – could potentially lead us to absolve ourselves of responsibility and to minimize the need to take necessary measures and precautions to protect ourselves. After all, we might think, since our fate ultimately lies in God’s hands, and only He determines the outcome of every situation, our efforts make no difference. The Midrash here reminds us of King Shelomo’s warning, “Ivelet ish tesalef darko” – even as we believe in providence, we must accept responsibility for our mistakes. If we act irresponsibly, then we, not God, are to blame. When we find that our mistakes “distort” our “path,” our job is to try to get ourselves back on track and then do what we can to ensure to avoid such mistakes in the future, thereby turning every mistake into a valuable learning experience.