Dayenu: On Gratitude
Sometimes it’s hard to feel grateful. It’s hard to look objectively at the good and bad of our lives, of our world, and think: “Yeah! This is all pretty great!” Especially when oftentimes it does not feel particularly great.
In comes Passover and arguably the best song in the Passover Haggadah, Dayenu!
Dayenu is a Hebrew word that translates roughly to: It would have been enough, and the song Dayenu is a song we sing in gratitude to God for taking us out of slavery in Egypt.
The way it is sung, each line is listing something God did for us to which we reply, 'Dayenu!’. Here are the abridged lyrics translated to English.
Dayenu If He had split the sea for us, but had not brought us through it on dry land, it would have been enough for us! If He had brought us through it on dry land, but had not drowned our oppressors within it, it would have been enough for us! If He had drowned our oppressors within it, but had not satisfied our needs in the wilderness for forty years, it would have been enough for us! If He had satisfied our needs in the wilderness for forty years, but had not fed us the manna, it would have been enough for us! If He had fed us the manna, but had not given us the Sabbath, it would have been enough for us! If He had given us the Sabbath, but had not brought us before Mount Sinai, it would have been enough for us! If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, but had not given us the Torah, it would have been enough for us! If He had given us the Torah, but had not brought us into the land of Israel, it would have been enough for us! If he had brought us into the land of Israel, but had not built the temple for us, it would have been enough for us!
So, why do I love this song? Well, first of all, it’s fun to sing! Anyone who’s been to a Passover Seder can attest that this is by far the heartiest song of the evening, but also, the idea of Dayenu is very appealing to me.
It would have been enough.
In a world where we are always asking for more, or wishing things were different, or planning for what’s next, or lamenting for what is, just stopping and instead saying “Dayenu!” can be a breath of fresh air.
Things are not perfect, but I am alive. Dayenu!
Dayenu is not an easy thing to say. Right now, it kinda feels like getting punched in the face and shouting out, “Thank you, sir. May I have another!”
To be clear, I am not particularly good at always looking on the bright side of life. I read too many doom-addled Substacks and political and historical podcasts to feel particularly content with much of anything.
In fact, I’m currently broiling over Trump’s defiance of a Supreme Court order to return a man wrongfully sent to an El Salvadoran torture prison, as well as his musing of sending American citizens there. Every day it feels like waking up in a fever dream of horror and awfulness.
BUT THIS IS MEANT TO BE A POSITIVE POST!
On April 5th, over 3 million protestors in all 50 states in over 1100 cities and towns took to the streets to protest Trump, Musk, and their fascistic takeover, with another planned for this Saturday the 19th.
Dayenu!
From March 31st to April 1st, Senator Cory Booker broke the record for longest filibuster with a 25 hour speech against Trump, Musk, and the harm they are doing our country. It was a feat of stamina, and courage, and vision (and holding your pee) and was incredible to watch, even if you can’t watch all 25 hours, I’d greatly recommend watching some clips (like this one).
Dayenu!
Speaking of action: Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have been holding rallies across the country attracting crowds of tens of thousands for their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. They are mobilizing opposition, not only against Trump, but for the Working Class, for the fight for equality and justice. They are putting energy back into the fight, and creating a new vision of what leadership could be.
Dayenu!
At a local level:
Typically local elections are fairly nonpartisan and unexciting, but this year we had a MAGA blow-hard running for village council in my town. His main talking point: The library is grooming our kids, and anyone who would defend the library is a pedophile!
His campaign was loud and his supporters seemed ubiquitous and obnoxious.
Being the upstanding citizen I am, I took to our town’s Facebook page and wrote about our library. I closed out by saying:
We’ve lived here for 2 years now and, to be frank, the library is by far my favorite part of Downers Grove (although Every Day a Sundae may be a close second). It is a public good, a service for every one of us in Downers Grove, a pillar of the community, and a hill worth dying on.
So all this to say: it is rare that those who wish to control, censor, ban, or otherwise undermine a library are on the right side, so, in other words, go vote.
What I anticipated being a throwaway post, or a post to be swarmed by trolls, was instead lauded by commenters, and currently sits with over 700 hearts and thumbs ups (which I guess is a unit of measurement now).
The next day was our village election and the dude got a thumping with the second least votes in a field of 6 candidates.
Dayenu!
In Wisconsin, Elon Musk “invested” over 25 million dollars to get a right-wing judge elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An effort that was soundly defeated by liberal judge Susan Crawford and the vast majority of Wisconsinites.
Dayenu!
Dayenu though is not saying the job is done.
When the Israelites were freed from Egypt, they did not cross the Red Sea, yell out “Dayenu!” and then just sit there. They kept going (for 40 years, in fact!).
It has to be the same for us. Each of these steps is a fight toward the right direction, but if we stop walking, if we dust off our hands and say, “Good enough!” we lose any and all progress.
We say dayenu for our ability to take each step, but we must also say dayenu for our ability to keep going. We all have a part to play, we all have a responsibility to each other, and just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you can’t do something.
Dayenu!
Also, my family is wonderful and my daughters are the best, and my wife is pretty cool too.
Dayenu!