Hakaras Hatov

Dear Parents, we live in difficult times, where each week’s headlines remind us of the tremendous galus in which we live. Earthquakes, tsunamis, radiation leaks, bus bombings, mortar rockets fired all over Israel, murders in Itamar, and tremendous unrest all over the Middle East are just a small selection of the frightening events of the past month. Such news and the images we view about them are scary for children, and even for adults, and can serve as a stark reminder about how powerless the Jews must have felt while enslaved in Mitzrayim. One aspect of Pesach can be found in the name “Zman Cheirusainu - time of our freedom”; we are all obligated to feel as if we left Mitzrayim ourselves, and this requires us to display tremendous thanks to Hashem for freeing us from galus Mitzrayim and for the daily miracles and private geulos that Hashem performs for each of us on a daily basis. Pesach allows us to step back from the rush of our daily lives and focus solely on our families and on the tremendous good that Hashem bestows upon us.

There is a famous story that I enjoy sharing with people. Two friends go on a camping trip, and while hiking, they notice a hungry lion approaching. One of the fellows opens his backpack, pulls out his sneakers and begins to lace up. His friend turns to him and asks, “Why are you putting on your running shoes? You can’t outrun the lion!” His friend responds, “I don’t need to outrun the lion; I just need to outrun you.” We live in times when often people will do whatever they find necessary to accomplish their goal, without any care or consideration for who or what gets hurt along the way. The root cause for this kind of behavior is a lack of hakaras hatov, gratitude, to others.

The story of Pesach is replete with subtle messages regarding our obligation to show hakaras hatov. There is a special mitzvah of pidyon peter chamor, redeeming the firstborn donkey, and we are told that the reason the chamor becomes a cheftza shel mitzvah, object of a mitzvah, is because the donkeys helped us when we left Mitzrayim. The Gemara in Bechoros tells us that every Jew had ninety chamorim laden with the spoils of Egypt. We learn from here that not only are we obligated to show hakaras hatov