Reply To: Short & Sweet

Vaeira: Do It For Yourself

The Torah tells us that rather than Moshe hitting the Nile with a stick at the commencement of the Makkos, Ahron was to hit the Nile. The Medrash famously explains that Moshe could not hit the Nile since he owed it a debt of gratitude; Moshe has been saved as a baby by floating down the Nile.

This seems deeply puzzling. The Nile is not capable of knowing or caring whether Moshe appreciated it; why did Moshe need to care about the “feelings” of an inanimate object?

Perhaps we can suggest that this was not about the Nile; it was about Moshe. Moshe was to treat the Nile with gratitude not because the Nile cared, but in order to mold himself into somebody who never forgot a favor.

Too often, we tend to calibrate our own actions on what we think others deserve. But that it is missing the point. We should treat others with kindness and respect not because they are deserving of it, but because we want ourselves to be people who are kind and respectful. If we approach the world with this attitude, it can be much easier to be nice to even the difficult people in our lives.

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