The Rules of Hakoras Hatov

Torah Thoughts on Parshas Pinchas by Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky

"צָרוֹר אֶת הַמִדְיָנִים וְהִכִּיתֶם אוֹתָם"  בְּמִדְבַּר כ''ה:י''ז

“Harass the Midianites and smite them.” BeMidbar 25:17

Last week, we read of Pinchas's extraordinary courage as he killed Zimri and the Midianite princess, Kozbi, ending a shameful episode in the desert. And this week, we read that Moshe Rabbeinu chose Pinchas to lead the battle against Midian because, as Rashi explained, מִי שֶהִתְחִיל בַּמִצְוָה...יִגְמֹר – whoever begins a mitzvah should finish the mitzvah. But didn't Hashem tell Moshe that he was supposed to lead the troops? "נְקֹם נִקְמַת בְּנֵי יִשְרָאֵל מֵאֵת הַמִדְיָנִים אַחַר תֵּאָסֵף אֶל עַמֶיךָ"!

The Midrash Rabbah explains: Moshe did not go on this campaign. He sent Pinchas in his stead because Moshe grew up in Midian and he therefore felt שֶׁאֲנִי מֵצֵר לְמִי שֶׁעָשָׂה בִּי טוֹבָה – that he could not harm the nation that had done well for him. In other words – because of his hakoras hatov, Moshe could not do anything against Midian. He therefore assigned Pinchas to the task.

This should sound like a familiar theme, because, in Egypt, Moshe had his brother initiate the first plagues due to his hakoras hatov to the Nile that saved him when he was first born. Yet, in the intervening years, weren't thousands of baby boys drowned in the waters of the Nile, and didn't the sin of the Midianite princess Kozbi lead to the deaths of so many in a plague? Why remain so grateful to the water and to Midian if each was the cause of so much death and destruction?

The answer may be that the imperative of הַכָּרַת הַטוֹב is not merely to be grateful when everything is good, but even when things are only somewhat good, even when an outcome is imperfect. The waters of the Nile were a source of destruction, but they also saved Moshe – so Moshe needed to be grateful and not cause the water to turn to blood. The nation of Midian tried to destroy our people's moral fiber and overturn our inherent kedushah, but Moshe had found refuge there, so he could not lead a battle against them. The imperative of hakoras hatov must be ever-present, even when not everything is perfect – even when there is much to improve.

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Rabbi Leonard A. Matanky received Semichah from HTC in 1980, learning under Rabbi Gedalia Rabinowitz and Rabbi Moshe Herschler. He received a Master’s Degree in Education Administration from Loyola University in 1982, and a PhD from New York University in 1989. Rabbi Matanky serves as the Rabbi of Congregation K.I.N.S. of West Rogers Park and the Dean of Ida Crown Jewish Academy.