JHI Dvar Torah on Parshat Mishpatim

PARSHAT MISHPATIM – INGRATITUDE

Parshat Mishpatim ( 22:30) contains the sentence, "U'basar basadeh treifa lo tocheilu lakelev tashlichun oto." When an animal is not slaughtered properly, the Torah commands us to throw its meat to the dogs as a reward. The Commentary of Rashi writes that we reward dogs this way because they abstained from barking in Egypt on the night of the Plague of the Firstborn.

The Commentary of the Daat Zekenim Mi’Baalei Ha’Tosafot offers a different reason for rewarding the dogs. Dogs protect the flocks by scaring away wolves that would otherwise prey on the sheep. The Commentary of DZ then adds that to not repay the dogs for their service would be “Kafuy Tov.” The term “Kafuy Tov” connotes a denial or rejection of a favor received.

After a favor is received, a measure of gratitude is due. The Hebrew term for this moral imperative is Hacarat Tov, acknowledging good. Kafuy Tov connotes the opposite extreme – beyond not repaying the favor, the recipient ignores or denies that the favor ever occurred and returns bad for good.

For the purposes of this dvar, let us refer to the practitioners of Hacarat Tov as category 1. Category 2 refers to those who practice little Hacarat Tov and instead tend to ignore what others have done for them; they act as if nothing occurred. The third and least ethical of the three categories are those who are Kafuy Tov. They repay good with bad; they “bite the hand that feeds them.”

There is a great deal of Talmudic literature that praises Hacarat Tov and condemns being Kafuy Tov. For example, In Shemot 1:8, where the onset of the slavery in Egypt is described, it is written, “And there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” A new Pharaoh arose who was not mindful of what Joseph had done for Egypt during the seven years of plenty and famine. Explaining that phrase, the commentary of Rabbenu Bachya writes, “Anyone who rejects the good of a friend will eventually come to reject the Good of G-d.”

According to the DZ, to not repay the dogs for their service would be Kafuy Tov. This needs to be understood. Kafuy Tov, connotes the third category, an overt rejection of a favor received. But simply not repaying the dogs would be an instance of the second category. Why does the DZ categorize it as Kafuy Tov?

Apparently, the DZ is teaching that there is no such thing as Category 2. ‘Merely’ not responding with gratitude and ignoring the good received from others is the moral equivalent of being Kafuy Tov. Although they seem different, not acknowledging a favor received is one and the same as “biting the hand that feeds.” The internal call of the neshama (soul) to be overtly grateful is strongly imbedded in people. In fact, it is so basic to human decency that ignoring that call entails a psychological rejection of the very fact that a favor was received. For this reason, the DZ wrote that in the ethics of the Torah, to ignore good received is one and the same as repaying good with evil.

This concept has wide application. People are always on the receiving end of favors - from parents, friends, spouses, rabbis, co-workers, and so forth. Each and every kindness received generates a separate and distinct ‘invoice’ for Hacarat Tov. To simply ignore those invoices is to be Kafuy Tov - a serious flaw in one’s moral/spiritual integrity.

Treating every single favor received as an IOU that must be paid (to whatever extent possible and without driving one’s self crazy in the process) suffuses one’s human interactions with enormous refinement and positive energy. The moral imperative of the Torah is that we should all strive to act this way.