WHEN IS IT EVER ‘ENOUGH’ FOR A JEW

The song “Dayeinu” is sung every year at the Passover Seder. Each line describes some aspect of the redemption narrative that exceeds the previous one, and ends in the word “Dayeinu, which means “it would have been enough for us”, or “it would have sufficed”.

Apparently this song is over one thousand years old, and is about being grateful to God for everything he gave the Jewish people during the period of the Exodus, such as redeeming them from their slavery in Egypt and giving them the Torah. The premise of the song is that had God only given one of these without the others, it would have been enough.

Rabbi Dunner takes a deeper look at this ancient song and reveals how each line item is significant in-and-of-itself. Dayeinu is not an acknowledgment of many individual kindnesses; the purpose of the song is to tie them all together. It is not just a random list – on the contrary, all of the line-items unite with each other under one heading, with the loss of one undermining the desired result of the redemption.