In this week’s Torah  portion, Matos-Masey, God tells Moshe to attack Midyan in order to avenge their attempt to defeat the Jewish people.  But Moshe does not do it himself, nor does he appoint anyone directly, instead he makes a general call out to the Jewish people telling them to appoint soldiers and take care of it.  The Medrash comments: “God told Moshe to attack Midyan, so why did he send others?   Since he grew up in Midyan (after running away from Egypt) Moses said, “I can not attack them since they did kindness for me, as people say, “Do not cast a rock into a well you drank from.””

This idea of Hakarat Hatov, of recognizing goodness which was done for us and expressing gratitude, is a deeply held value in Judaism.  Even though the Midyanits had struck the Jewish people and wanted to destroy them, Moses, out of gratitude, could not strike back himself.   The Torah similarly says about Egypt, “You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in their land (Deut. 23:8)”  Though the Egyptians enslaved and persecuted us, still there is a hidden element of welcoming they performed for us, and for that we have some responsibility to not be unkind to them.   This is a high order, even in a situation which seems bad, in which there was no kindness, if there is a speck of it underlying the other cruelties, we must recognize that good and feel some gratitude.  We can not act with vengeance alone, we must also have a sensitivity to being indebted for all of the good that has been done for us.

This concept of hakarat hatov in the thought of the Rabbis extends even to inanimate objects.  For instance, when it comes to striking the Nile to bring forth the plagues Moses can not do it for he was rescued in a basket there, instead it is Aarron who must hit the Nile.
Maybe hakarat hatov, recognizing the goodness done for us, is actually much more encompassing than just being thankful.  Perhaps hakarat hatov is a way of being, and through it, through realizing we are fundamentally dependent creatures and totally contingent beings, in that itself and only in that, can we find the numinous and the infinite.   The other side of an infinite God is truly dependent human beings.  The more awareness we have of God’s infinity, the more contingent and beholden we are.   This can lead us to denial -of our death and our frailty, or to a denial of God-or it can lead us to a life lived in the face of the Divine, but that will of necessity be  a life of gratitude and wonder.   As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel put it, “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ….get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”