In Parshas VaEira, Hashem commanded Moshe to first warn Pharaoh about the impending plague. Moshe told Pharaoh that if he refused to free the Jews to serve Hashem, “So said Hashem, ‘In this you shall know that I am Hashem.’ Behold, I am going to strike with the staff that is in my hand upon the water that is in the river and it shall turn to blood.” After warning Pharaoh, Moshe is then commanded, “Tell Aharon, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt…’” Why does Hashem specify that Aharon should be the one to initiate the plague? In addition, this pattern is repeated with the next two plagues – frogs and lice.
Rashi explains that it was inappropriate for Moshe Rabbeinu to strike the Nile for the plagues of blood and frogs. After all, this same river provided refuge for him as a baby. In the same vein, Moshe Rabbeinu could not strike the sand to bring the plague of lice. The Egyptian sand protected Moshe when he used it to bury the Egyptian that he killed. Hashem’s message to Moshe Rabbeinu is clear.
Striking the Nile River or the Egyptian sand would show a lack of appreciation for how they had helped him, and such an action would tarnish his hakaras ha’tov. Rather, Aharon should initiate these plagues, since he never benefited from the water or the sand to the same extent.
Rashi’s explanation lends new insight into the dimensions of hakaras ha’tov. Gratitude is not because someone did something for you but rather if you benefited. If you benefited from somebody or something, you must show gratitude (from the book Nesivei Ohr, pg.165, by Rabbi Nissim Yagen). That’s why it is said with Moshe that he was not allowed to hit the Nile River, and he had to ask Aharon to do it. A river has no feelings and does not care whether Moshe lived or died. But since Moshe benefited from the river, so then he has to have gratitude and he can’t strike it.
Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler further explains that it is irrelevant if our beneficiary (e.g., the Nile River) might have been an inanimate object. Our emotional reality is that when we strike something, its value is lowered in our eyes. It becomes inferior and we become superior. If we previously benefited from it, then our midah of hakaras ha’tov certainly diminishes. Moshe’s Divine mandate was to diligently preserve his midah of hakaras ha’tov, since it is so critical for avodas Hashem (service of G-d).
List of People Who Need a r’fuah sh’leimah (a complete recovery)
Please recite Psalms 20, 30, 88, 121, and 130.
Michael Rachamim ben Mazal
Yosef Yosi ben Simchah
Chaim Avraham ben Shifrah Zissel
Chaim ben Adinah Eidel
Matan ben Devorah
Noam ben Adi
Moshe Shlomo ben Orah Sarah
Tinok ben Chavah Michal
Omer ben Tali
Shachar ben Golan
Yisrael ben Raizel Shoshanah Miriam
Shmaryahu ben Raizel Shoshanah Miriam
Mazal bas Rivkah
Odelya bas Mahbubeh Yocheved
Zhenya bas Zoya
Esther Hadassah bas Devorah
Mitali Naomi bas Gilah Farcha
Zoya bas Rachel Raya
Rachel bas Leah
Mazal bas Rachel
Tziporah bas Fruma
Israeli Soldiers (Please recite Psalms 25, 26, 46, 83, 142.)
Ben Zion Yitzchak ben Ilanah Malkah
Aharon Simchah ben Meirah Ilanah
David ben Rivkah Zlata
Matnia ben Sarah
Yehudah Chaim ben Mina Chayah
Yehudah ben Baila
Shai ben Baila
Ro’i ben Baila
Asaf ben Tamar
Avitar ben Tamar
Elad ben Tamar
Amit Levy ben Dalit
Menachem ben Aliza Esther
Yehoshua ben Aliza Esther
Binyamin ben Chanah
Yoel Tzvi ben Adinah Shoshanah
Moshe Avraham ben Malkah Rivkah
Yosef Rachamim ben Sarah
Binyamin Moshe ben Sarah
Yosef Elyasaf ben Devorah
Menachem Shlomo ben Miriam Tamara
Omer ben Sigal
Moshe David ben Chavah Leah
Shmuel Yonah ben Leah
Yehoshua Hershel ben Chanah
Alexander Gedalia ben Chayah Basyah
Ezra Yisrael ben Chayah Basyah
To add names of individuals who need a r’fuah sh’leimah to next week’s T’hilim column, please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and complete the Google form.
