Rabbi Riddle: Don't Forget to Say "Thanks!"

In this week's Torah portion, Aharon strikes the river Nile and turns it into blood. According to our sages, the Nile protected Moshe after his mother placed him in a basket. Therefore, he was not commanded to strike it now. This teaches us the principle of "Hakaras HaTov," thankfulness.

First and foremost, we have to thank G-d. In fact, it's a custom to say 100 blessings every day to recognize, praise, and thank G-d for all that He does for us!
We also have to be grateful to our fellow man. Ben Zoma said, "In order to eat bread, Adam had to plow, sow, reap, stack the sheaves, thresh the grain, winnow the chaff, select the best grain, grind it, sift the flour, knead the dough, and bake his bread. Now all these things are done for me!"
The Torah forbids us to wantonly destroy any object. Instead, we have to be thankful for and respect everything in G-d's world.