The other day I had a discussion with a person who declared that they have no interest in religion, their only wish to be a �good person�. My response was, �What do you mean by �good�?�

They had some interesting answers but I believe that Rav Dessler phrases it best when he says that the essence of �being good� is the ability to have and show gratitude to those whom have benefited you.

In this week�s sedra, while Moshe administers most of the plagues, HaShem commands Moshe to have Aharon bring the plagues of blood, frogs and lice. Is G-d really concerned with including Moshe�s brother? Do we really think that Aharon would be upset if he didn�t have an active role in the destruction of Egypt? Was Moshe only strong enough to smite Egypt seven times not ten?

Rashi explains that Moshe, on a certain level, was indebted to the river and the dust on the ground, therefore it would not be proper for him to smite either of them to bring about a plague. His life was saved as an infant in the river and he had used the dust to hide the body of the Egyptian that he had killed.
Water doesn�t choose to have the quality of buoyancy, and none of us would think to say thank you to the sidewalk for allowing us to take a stroll on it. The Torah is trying to impress upon us the importance of gratitude, and that the debt that is created by receiving a favor never goes away.

This concept is echoed in the Talmud when it states: �If you drink water from a well, don�t throw stones into it.� (Baba Kama 92b) Although this advise is clearly meant as a metaphor for people who have benefited you in some way, the Shita Mekubetzes says that we should be careful about the literal meaning as well.

If the Torah is so concerned about having gratitude to inanimate objects that don�t even choose to benefit us; then all the more so must we have gratitude to people who in most cases could refuse us help if they so wanted. One primary example is our spouses or parents. If a person was to reflect on just a small portion of the myriads of kindness that these people have bestowed on us, we would be so incredibly careful not to harm them in any way and would strive daily to bring them pleasure.

If we would focus just for a moment on how important our Rabbis and teachers have been to us and our children; they taught us how to read, daven, learn. They have given us our basis of hashkafa that in a deep way form the essence of who we are and continue to give us inspiration to be better members of the Jewish People and humanity. We would strive constantly to follow their teachings, show them how much we appreciate them and we would have an almost violent contempt for any person who would utter a negative word about them.

This of course applies to HaShem as well. A large portion of our davening is trying to focus us on how much our Creator has done for us and how grateful we should be. Our gratitude to the Al-Mighty can be a great source of inspiration to perform His mitzvot in proper manner.

Many times the greatness of people is shown through the simplicity of their actions. I once was visited in Las Vegas by a great Rosh HaYeshiva, who when we walked out of an office building together, turned to the non-Jewish maintenance man and thanked him for doing such a wonderful job of wiping down the door handles. By his reaction, it might have been the first sign of appreciation that janitor had gotten in twenty years.
Showing our gratitude to others is not only a nice thing to do, but also is a constant opportunity for kiddush HaShem.