NUM364 We must be grateful to someone who has benefited us, even if he did not do so intentionally. When the Jewish people went to fight the Midianites, Moshe sent others but did not go himself. In verses one and two we read that God commanded Moshe to avenge the crime of the Midianites; why then did Moshe delegate this task to others? The Midrash explains that this was because Moses had lived in their midst (from the time he fled from Egypt until his return to Egypt after God appeared to him in the burning bush) and had an obligation to be grateful to them. (Daas Zkainim). During Moshe's stay, the Midianites did not go out of their way to aid Moshe, and now God decreed that they were to be punished. Nevertheless, Moshe did not join his army in battle against the Midianites out of gratitude. If Moshe was grateful even to an unintending benefactor, all the more so must we be grateful to someone who is going out of his way to help us. (Ohr Yohail, vol. 2, p. 221). If someone taught you Torah or had a beneficial influence on you, you should be extremely grateful to him. Failure to honor him properly shows a gross lack of gratitude. (Pele Yoatz, section kofuy tova). The Baal Haturim comments that Moshe did not send the princes of the twelve tribes to fight against Midian to spare the tribe of Shimon embarrassment since their prince, Zimri, had been killed. In time of war good leadership is essential. The princes would have contributed much to the war effort if they would have been present during the battle against Midian. But Moshe was willing to forgo the advantages of their assistance to save people from embarrassment. Zimri, the former Prince of the tribe of Shimon died dishonorably. He publicly committed an immoral act and Pinchos killed him. If the princes of the other twelve tribes would. have been called to lead the one thousand men from the respective tribes, the leader of the tribe of Shimon would have been conspicuously absent. The pain of embarrassment is so great that even in time of war we must be careful not to cause someone shame. (Kol Tzofayich, p. 325).