of Joseph's brothers in , "What is this that God has done to us?" as an example of how people blame God for misfortune that they bring upon themselves. Genesis chapter 43 Rav Huna deduced from Judah's commitment to Jacob with regard to Benjamin in , "I will be surety for him; of my hand shall you require him", that a guarantor becomes responsible for the debt that he has guaranteed. Rav Hisda, however, demurred, saying that Judah assumed an unconditional obligation to return Benjamin, for in , Reuben promised, "Deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him back to you", and Judah surely promised no less than Reuben. Reading Judah's contingent vow in , "Send the lad with me ...; if I do not bring him to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever", Rav Judah in the name of Rav deduced that a conditional exclusion, even if self-imposed, requires formal annulment. The Gemara told that all through the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, Judah's bones were jolted about in their coffin until Moses asked God for mercy on Judah's behalf and to annul Judah's vow. A Midrash read the steward's words to the brothers in , "Peace be to you, fear not; your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure", to mean that God benefitted them either for their own sake or for their father Jacob's sake. Rabbi Ḥiyya the Elder met a Babylonian in the Land of Israel and asked him about the welfare of Rabbi Ḥiyya's father in Babylon. The Babylonian replied that Rabbi Ḥiyya's mother in Babylon had asked about Rabbi Ḥiyya. Rabbi Ḥiyya exclaimed that he asked one thing and the Babylonian spoke to him of another. The Babylonian replied that people ask about the living, but not about the dead (hinting that Rabbi Ḥiyya's father had died). The Midrash thus read Joseph's question, "Is your father well?" in to allude to Jacob, and Joseph's reference in to "the old man of whom you spoke" to allude to Isaac. When reports, "And they said: 'Your servant our father is well, he is yet alive, the Midrash interpreted the brothers to imply that Isaac had died. Rav Judah taught that three things shorten a person's years: (1) to be given a Torah scroll from which to read and to