Dayenu

Haggadah Section: -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
SecularDayenu

At the seder we say/sing that:

If we had been brought out of Egypt, Dayenu

If we had received Torah, Dayenu

If we had received Manna, Dayenu

Etc.

Dayenu means “it would have been enough.” The idea is to be grateful for what one has; to count our blessings. Think of dayenu as a template for gratitude. 

But think, too, about how actually it is to enough to be satisfied when there is still suffering and oppression. Some say “lo dayenu,” meaning, “it is not enough.” 

When we are free and others are not, lo dayenu

We work to find the balance between being grateful for what is right with our lives and with the world, and also striving for more that fulfills us and more that increases justice in the world. 

From Marti Keller:

DAH YAY NU “ It would have been enough.”

Everyone Join in Song ( we will just sing the Chorus)

EE-LOO HO-TSI AH-NOO

HO-TSI AH-NOO MEE-MITS-RAY-YEEM

HO-TSI AH-NOO MEE MITS-RA-YEEM

DAH YAY-NOO.

DAH-DAH YAY-NOO, DAH DAH YAY-NOO

DAH DAH YAY-NOO, DAH=YAY NOO DAH YAY NOO

Dayenu- the recognition of and giving of blessings of life, no matter what trials. No matter what we have been given to work with.

It is after the telling of the parting of the Sea of Reeds and the Egyptian army has been turned back, after Miriam, Moses' sister, dances as she crosses over the shallow river bed that the Dayenu is sung. We are told that the Dayenu is a blessing is for all that led to the deliverance of the Jewish people. The traditional Dayenu has 15 verses, shaped and modified over the centuries:15 different thanks and praises.

Dayenu. Dayenu. Dayenu.

One rabbi has said that it is a Zen Koan in the midst of a bible story. Even before we are freed, we are given enough, we are given what we need. In the story of the Exodus, even before we are given the tablets of laws, we are given enough, we are given what we need. Even before we cross into the Promised Land, even if we never reach it, we are given what we need.

The story of the Exodus, the Passover myth, the Dayenu blessings, remind us of the difference between freedom—being released from captivity or slavery from being physically bound or imprisoned—and true liberation from all the emotional and social oppressions that keep us captive. The kind of liberation that finally frees us from just surviving, the most superficial safety, and allows for the kind of salvation and redemption that in freeing us, frees the whole world…

As one Passover Hagadaah urges us- we can sing Dah Yay Nu to celebrate each step we take toward liberation as if it were enough and then start on the next step. We can say today, though, these gifts are not enough unless we apply these lessons to our daily lives. The freedom struggle continues and there are many wrongs we must right before we are fully satisfied. *

Full liberation for all.

Passover Haggadah Congregation Kol Chaim 1999

Source:  
Rabbi Denise Handlarski
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Table of contents
    Introduction
  • Passover 2020 Introduction
  • Seder Guests...
  • The Seder Plate - Coloring Page
  • Jerry Seinfeld's Passover Stand-Up Introduction - The Yada Yada Haggadah
  • Blessing on Flowers
  • A Secular Humanistic Passover Blessing
  • Phrases
  • Greetings
  • Building Your Mental Health Passover Seder Plate
  • A Poem For The Disappointed
  • Passover Themes Meaningful to Interfaith Families
    • Commentary / Readings
  • 20 Table Topics for Your Passover Seder
  • The Ethical Problem of Hardening Pharaoh's Heart
  • Anne Frank Quote
  • A "Fifth" Cup for Justice
    • Kadesh
  • Why Four Cups of Wine
  • Kaddesh
  • Sanctification - Kiddush
    • Urchatz
  • 2020 Seder Order
  • Blessing For Hand Washing During a Pandemic
  • Hand Washing Coloring Page
  • A Priestess’s Prayer Under Quarantine
    • Karpas
  • Karpas - The Yada Yada Haggadah
  • SALT WATER SUFFERING
    • Yachatz
  • Afikoman Auction
  • The Strangers in Our Midst
  • The Afflicted Matza
  • Song - Don't sit on the Afikomen
    • Maggid - Beginning
  • Michael Walzer, Exodus and Revolution
  • A Historical Perspective
  • Healthy Debate: How This Night Can Be Different
    • -- Four Questions
  • Hunger Seder: Four Questions
  • Four Questions
  • Four Questions in Judeo-Persian/Farsi (Transliterated)
    • -- Four Children
  • The Four Adults
  • Why This Night: Four Children and Five Rabbis
  • The Four Children Approach the Future
    • -- Exodus Story
  • Personal Mitzrayim
  • Donald Trump Tells The Exodus Story - The Trump Passover Haggadah
  • Let My People Go (song)
  • First Proposed Seal of the United States
    • -- Ten Plagues
  • Skit - Pharaoh and Moses Go To A Conflict Counselor
  • The Modern Plagues
  • Dom, Dom
    • -- Cup #2 & Dayenu
  • Dayenu
  • Maroon 5/Adam Levine - "Memories (The 2nd Cup Parody Song)"
  • Dayenu for a pandemic
    • Rachtzah
  • Rachtzah: A Deeper Washing
  • Barriers to Love
  • Bring, Deliver, Redeem, Take: Principles of Adulthood
    • Motzi-Matzah
  • No Pasta more Matzah
  • An Ode to Bread
    • Maror
  • Have Yourself a Piece of Bitter Maror
    • Koreich
  • Charoset Chanina (“Charoset of Clemency”)
    • Songs
  • Sweet Charoset - parody song
  • Our Passover Things (Sung to the tune of "My Favorite Things")
    • Shulchan Oreich
  • Let's Eat!
  • If It Ain't Broke...
    • Bareich
  • Barech – Invitation to Gratitude
  • Ruth's Cup: A New Passover Ritual Celebrating Jewish Diversity
  • Miriam's Cup by Miriam Jerris
    • Hallel
  • Welcoming Others
  • Adrienne Rich on Freedom
  • The Promised Land
    • Conclusion
  • Just to be is a blessing...
  • Conclusion
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