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Why did Aharon strike the Nile and the earth instead of Moshe during the first three plagues? The shiur develops the concept that hakarat hatov (gratitude) isn't about thanking inanimate objects—it's about internalizing our connection to something greater than ourselves. When we appreciate resources as gifts rather than possessions, we recognize we're part of a welcoming society, which is far healthier than feeling we must grab and own everything ourselves.
The shiur opens with the question of why Aharon, not Moshe, struck the Nile to bring forth the first plague of blood and struck the earth to bring forth the third plague of lice. Rashi (רש"י) explains that the Nile protected Moshe when he was placed in a basket as an infant, and the earth protected him when he buried the Egyptian he killed, so Moshe could not be the agent to strike them. The principle is stated: "Into the cistern from which you drank, do not throw stones." Similarly, Moshe did not lead the battle against Midian because they had sheltered him when he was a fugitive from Egypt. Rabbi Zweig raises the fundamental difficulty: why should a person show gratitude to inanimate objects like water or soil? They have no feelings, no consciousness. The Gemara (גמרא) derives this lesson from the case of Midian, where there were actual people who benefited Moshe—but what does it mean to "thank" a river or the earth? This seems artificial and pedagogically unconvincing. If the lesson is simply to teach us to be grateful to people, why use inanimate examples that make no logical sense?
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Parshas Vaeira, Shemos 7:19 (blood), 8:1 (frogs), 8:12 (lice)
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