The Midrash asks: Since Hashem told Moshe himself to go take vengeance on Midian, how can he send other people to do it? The Midrash answers that since Moshe had dwelled in Midian, he felt how can I go to war with a country that housed me?
The Otzros Hatorah asks, what kind of answer is that? If Hashem commands you to do something, how could you send someone else in your place, no matter what your reasoning is?
He answers that the power of Hakaras Hatov is so strong & self-evident that when Hashem told Moshe to take vengeance on Midian, Moshe had no doubt, whatsoever, that Hashem couldn't have meant that he should go himself, but that he should send other people.
The Midrash also tells us that, in addition to the twelve thousand that went to battle, another twelve thousand went with them to daven , one person to daven for each person who’s fighting. They all went onto the battlefield together. רב חזקל לוינשטיין asks, why couldn't they just stay in the camp & daven; as well, why did there have to be a davener corresponding to every soldier.
He answers that the purpose was so the soldiers shouldn't say כוחי ועוצם ידי , my strength & my strong hand is what won this battle. By constantly seeing the ones that were davening they all understood that it was the power of the tefila that won the war.
Maybe we could take this a step further & say that another reason they had to go together is to teach the lesson of Hakaras Hatov; each person was doing his job. The soldier was fighting & the davener was davening. At times, it looked as if the Bnei Yisroel were winning because the soldier was fighting a good fight & at times there were miraculous events, presumably brought on by the davener. Each one was grateful to the other, teaching us that we have to be grateful for everyone's part in the good that happens to us.
When רב איסר זלמן מלצר was very old & frail, רב שלום אייזן brought his son to the tzaddik for a beracha. He gave him a beracha to be a gadol in Torah & yiras shomaim. Then, on the day of the Bar Mitzva, everyone was shocked to see רב איסר זלמן walking slowly, with great effort, by himself from his house to the house of רב שלום which was quite a distance. They ran up to him & asked him why he was exerting himself to come to the Bar Mitzva. When they had come to the rabbi's house, they only intended to secure a beracha!
He answered them, “I owe you a debt of gratitude. When you came to tell me about the bar mitzva of your son, I thought to myself, wow time really flies. I remember being at the wedding of רב שלום & now he's coming to tell me about the bar mitzva of his son...... Time goes by so quickly so I resolved right then to maximize my time. Since it was because of you that I had these thoughts, I owe you הכרת הטוב & wanted to share in your simcha.
These events demonstrate the importance of הכרת הטוב . From the soldiers saving each other’s lives to giving someone shelter to even causing someone to have thoughts that help him, the size of the benefit does not matter. Whatever the benefit, the Torah is teaching us to have הכרת הטוב !
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