Dayenu–You are enough…

 

Knowing the practices and customs of the peoples of the Bible and reading the Rabbis’ interpretations of some passages of the Old Testament have always greatly enriched my Bible studies. This week, for instance, an article from the Rabbis without borders’ blog has truly edified me: Dayenu – You are enough.

The Dayenu is a prayer which is sung during the Seder. The Seder (Heb: order) itself is a 15-steps Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the celebrations of the Passover, Pessa'h. The goal is for the participants to revive the sudden accession to freedom after years of slavery. The ritual is based on the following commandment: "You shall tell your child on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt,'" Ex 13:8.

Around the end of the fifth step –which retells the story of the Exodus-, songs of praise are sung, including the Dayenu, which praises all that GOD has done for the Israelites.

• If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us!
• If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us!
• If He had brought us into the land of Israel, and had not built for us the Temple, Dayenu, it would have been enough for us!

In other words, the Dayenu is a proclamation that, had God performed any single one of the many deeds performed for the Jewish people, it would have been enough to obligate them to give thanks.

What depth and what wisdom! In a society and a Church where GOD is constantly on trial for not doing enough, let’s grab the occasion of the celebration of the LORD’s resurrection, to say: Dayenu!

• If You had died on the Cross for me and done nothing else, it would have been enough for me.
• If You had given me the breath of life and nothing else, it would have been enough for me!
• If You had only given me life/my kids/my job/my spouse/a family/my church/my house/Grace etc., it would have been enough for me!

It is not because we know that GOD can and will always do far more abundantly than what we think, ask or hope for, that we can dare not to appreciate EVERYTHING that He has already done for us. This would be the worst form of ungratefulness. He loves us; and even if He were never to do anything else, we should acknowledge that He has even done more than enough already and what He has done is priceless.

Let’s forget our requests for a while; let’s forget what we still want to obtain from Him. Let us consider the fact that He triumphantly faced death and the powers of darkness so that they would no longer have any power over us and let our whole being shout: Dayenu!

Happy Easter and GOD bless you!