| We are focusing this month on the middah of Hakras Hatov (gratitude). We explained how Hakaras Hatov is such an essential middah, because the more we train ourselves to notice what people do for us and thank them for it, the more likely we will be to recognize Hashem as our Creator and thank Him for everything He gives us, which is actually the purpose of our creation.
Last week, we practiced looking at the things we are enjoying in this world, and tracing them back to their source. But when you look at your apple and think of all the people involved in bringing this fruit to you - the farmer, the man driving the delivery truck, the storekeeper, etc. - you may start to wonder:
Do I really need to thank all these people?! They didn't do all their work in order to benefit me - they don't even know I exist! They do the same job every day, and they're not thinking about me at all... they're just working in order to get paid. Do I really need to thank them?
Am I supposed to feel appreciation even for someone who does things for his own benefit, without having me personally in mind at all?
The answer is a resounding YES!
Moshe Rabbeinu taught us this lesson when he asked Aharon to strike the water and the earth to bring about the plagues of Blood and Lice, instead of Moshe doing it himself. Why couldn't Moshe strike the water and the earth by himself?
The Midrash [1] explains that Moshe felt a debt of gratitude to both the water and the earth, and therefore he could not strike them. The water hid Moshe when he was a baby [2] and the earth saved Moshe by hiding the evil Egyptian whom Moshe had to kill in order to save a fellow Jew [3]. Hashem told Moshe that he cannot hit the water and the earth by himself, because if he would, it would demonstrate a lack of appreciation for these natural elements that saved him from death. That's why Moshe had to ask Aharon to hit the water and earth instead.
We can see from this Midrash that a person is indeed required to demonstrate appreciation even to inanimate objects. In a similar vein, the Talmud [4] teaches: "If you drank from a pit, do not throw a rock into it." You benefitted from the pit, so don't throw something into it. | 
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