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Why does Moshe owe gratitude to the Nile that nearly drowned him, or to Og who sought to harm Avrohom? The shiur explains that hakoras hatov isn't owed to the object—it's owed to yourself. By recognizing value in all past experiences, even negative ones, you validate your whole self and gain the power to transform former weaknesses into tools for helping others.
Rabbi Zweig opens by examining a perplexing Rashi (רש"י) on Parshas Vaeira: Moshe could not strike the Nile during the first plagues because the river had protected him as an infant. Yet Aharon, who lived in Egypt for eighty years and benefited from the Nile far more than Moshe, was permitted to strike it. Furthermore, the Nile was part of the problem—Moshe was placed there precisely because Pharaoh had decreed that all male infants be drowned in it. The "protection" seems more like the snow that nearly froze a man to death, hardly deserving gratitude. Additionally, Chazal derive the principle "a well from which you drank, do not throw a stone into" both from this incident and from the prohibition against despising Egypt—yet why is a dual source needed, and how can we owe gratitude to inanimate objects like water or land? The shiur then introduces another puzzling case: when the Jews were about to conquer Og, king of Bashan, Hashem (ה׳) told Moshe "do not fear him." Rashi explains that Moshe feared Og's merit, since Og had informed Avrohom that Lot was taken captive, enabling the rescue. Yet Rashi himself notes in Parshas Lech Lecha that Og's motives were entirely selfish—he hoped Avrohom would die in battle so Og could marry Sarah. Why would such nefarious intent create an obligation of gratitude?
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Parshas Vaeira (Shemos 7:19, Rashi)
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