Dayenu
The Israelites got ready very quickly. They didn't even have time to bake bread for their journey. Instead, they carried the raw dough on their backs, and the sun baked it into hard matzah crackers. The people followed their leader, Moses. When they got to the Red Sea, God told Moses to hold up his walking stick. As he did, a strong wind parted the sea and made a path for the Israelites to pass through. Thus Adonai our God brought us out of Egypt, not by an angel or a messenger, but alone -- with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs and wonders. He did many things to help the slaves escape from Egypt, but even if he had done only one thing, that would have been enough for us to be grateful. And so we sing "Dayenu" -- "It would have been enough for us."
DAYENU
Ilu hotzi, hotzi anu
Hotzi anu mi mitzrayim
Hotzi anu mi mitzrayim
Dayenu
Refrain:
Da-Dayenu
Da-Dayenu
Da-Dayenu
Dayenu Dayenu
Ilu natan natan lanu
Natan lanu et haTorah
Natan lanu et haTorah Dayenu
(Refrain)
Ilu natan natan lanu
Natan lanu et haShabbat
natan lanu et haShabbat Dayenu
(Refrain)
PARTICIPANT: But wait a second. Had God brought us out of Egypt, but didn’t part the Red Sea, would that really have been enough? Or parted the Red Sea, but didn’t let us cross to safety, would that have been enough?
Dayenu reminds us that we should appreciate “incomplete blessings” -- that “in the face of uncertainty, we can cultivate gratitude for life’s small miracles, and can find abundance amidst brokenness.” (HAIS Haggadah, 2020). So this year, we add: For the delivery workers and the grocery store clerks who bring us food, for the first responders, doctors and nurses who keep us safe and risk their lives to heal the sick, for the teachers who work with us remotely, for the scientists whose research will bring us a cure, for the calls and email from friends near and far --
EVERYONE: Dayenu.
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