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A traveler once was stopped by a highway robber who demanded his moneybag at gunpoint. “I’ll give you my money!” said the traveler. “But please, if I come home emptyhanded, my wife will never believe that I was robbed, and will accuse me of having squandered the money on gambling or liquor, and she will beat me mercilessly. Please, do me the favor of firing several bullets through my hat, so I can prove to her that I was held up.”The...

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If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel — Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu natan lanu et hatorah, v'lo hichnisanu l'eretz yisra’eil, dayeinu אִלּוּ נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת הַתּוֹרָה וְלֹא הִכְנִיסָנוּ לְאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל דַּיֵּנוּ

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The ancient rabbis clued us in on a key principle in cosmic functions: Whatever He tells us to do, He does Himself. Of course, there’s a difference: We do it in our little human world. He does it on a cosmic plane.He told us to open our door on the night of Passover. So, tonight, He opens every door and every gateway of the spiritual cosmos to every member of the Jewish People. To each one of us, regardless of what...

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Thirteen are the temperaments of God  שלושה עשר מידיא

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If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah — Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu keirvanu lifnei har sinai,v'lo natan lanu et hatorah, Dayenu אִלּוּ קֵרְבָנוּ לִפְנֵי הַר סִינַי וְלֹא נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת הַתּוֹרָה דַּיֵּנוּ

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The theme of grace after meals is confidence. Confidence in a Higher Force that is with us in our daily lives. With that confidence you don’t just see food before you. You see a river of life travelling from Above onto your plate.When we say this out loud, with joy and sincerity, we initiate a reciprocal current. The energy we receive is bounced back with even greater force, replenishing all the higher worlds and ethereal beings through which it passed on...

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Twelve are the tribes of Israel   שנים עשר שיבטיא

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In the Kabbalah, it is explained that there is something deeper than the soul. There is the body, the spirit, and then there is the essence. If the soul is light, then that essence is the source of light. If it is energy, then the essence is the dynamo. It is called "tzafun," meaning hidden, buried, locked away and out of reach.Whatever we do, we dance around that essence-core, like a spacecraft in orbit, unable to land. We can meditate, we...

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If He had given us the Shabbat,and had not brought us before Mount Sinai Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu natan lanu et hashabbat, v'lo keirvanu lifnei har sinai, Dayenu אִלּוּ נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת וְלֹא קֵרְבָנוּ לִפְנֵי הַר סִינַי דַּיֵּנוּ 

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Eleven are the stars of the Joseph's dream    אחד עשר כוכביא

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This step, along with Korech before it, marks the re-entry we mentioned at the beginning. We’ve escaped Egypt and reached a higher vision. And then we start the process again -- on a higher level.Because freedom consists of more than escape. Complete freedom is when you can turn around and liberate all the elements of your world from their pure material state, and make them transcendent as well.That’s what we do when we eat every day—we take foods which grow from...

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If He had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat — Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu he'echilanu et haman, v'lo natan lanu et hashabbat, dayeinu! אִלּוּ הֶאֱכִילָנוּ אֶת הַמָּן וְלֹא נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת דַּיֵּנוּ

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Ten are the Commandments   עשרה דיבריא

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In the view from within Egypt, this world is a mess of fragments. It’s called “The Passoverly Challenged Perspective.” Plain materialism. Where mitzvahsare a mishmash of dos and don’ts, Jews are a collection of irreconcilable riffraff, daily life is a cacophony of hassles and, well, just stuff.Once we blast off far enough to escape materialism’s gravitational pull, we look back down and see a whole new perspective: It’s all a single landscape.From up there looking down, mitzvahs are multiple expressions of...

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What's so great about the bitterness? Why do we want to remermber  that ?Actually, our bitterness in Egypt was/is the key to our redemption. We never got used to Egypt. We never felt we belonged there. We never said, “They are the masters and we are the slaves and that’s the way it is.” It always remained something we felt bitter about, something that was unjust and needed to change.If it hadn’t been that way, we probably would never have left....

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If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years, and had not fed us the manna — Dayenu, it would have sufficed!   Ilu sipeik tzorkeinu bamidbar arba'im shana, v'lo he'echilanu et haman, dayeinu! אִלּוּ סִפֵּק צָרַכֵּנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה וְלֹא הֶאֱכִילָנוּ אֶת הַמָּן דַּיֵּנוּ 

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Nine are the months of the pregnant    תישעה ירחי לידה

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If He had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu shika tzareinu b’tocho, v'lo sipeik tzorkeinu bamidbar arba'im shana,  dayeinuאִלּוּ שִׁקַע צָרֵינוּ בְּתוֹכוֹ וְלֹא סִפֵּק צָרַכֵּנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה דַּיֵּנוּ

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Eight are the days of the circumcision   שמונה ימי מילה

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Since the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, matzah is the only opportunity we have to actually eat a mitzvah. That’s right, the matzah you are eating is pure G-dliness. In fact, it has enough G-dly energy to blast your soul out of the deepest ditch into the highest heights.The Zohar calls matzah “Bread of Faith” and “Bread of Healing”. Did I say “faith?” Well, actually, that’s a rather feeble translation. “Emunah” is the word in Hebrew, and it means a...

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We feel an affinity with the food we eat: We too are a miracle out of the earth.We and the bread share a common journey. The bread begins as a seed buried beneath the ground. And then, a miracle occurs: As it decomposes and loses its original form, it comes alive, begins to grow sprout and grow. As spring arrives, it pushes its way above the earth to find the sun, and then bears its fruits for the world.We too began...

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As long as we live in this world, freedom remains elusive: While moving forward, we are free. Stop, and we are bound and fettered again.That is why freedom is something you cannot buy nor steal. Never can you put freedom in your purse and say, “Freedom is mine forever!”For freedom is a marriage: Freedom is the bond our finite selves with the Infinite, the power to transcend the world while working inside it. It is a marriage of heaven and earth,...

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If He had taken us through the sea on dry land, and had not drowned our oppressors in it — Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu he'eviranu b'tocho becharavah,v'lo shika tzareinu b’tocho, dayeinu! אִלּוּ הֶעֱבִירָנוּ בְּתוֹכוֹ בֶּחָרָבָה וְלֹא שִׁקַע צָרֵינוּ בְּתוֹכוֹ דַּיֵּנוּ 

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Seven are the days of the week   שיבעה ימי שבתא

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If He had split the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry land — Dayenu, it would have sufficed!Ilu kara lanu et hayam, v'lo he'eviranu b'tocho becharavah, dayeinu!אִלּוּ קָרַע לָנוּ אֶת הַיָּם וְלֹא הֶעֱבִירָנוּ בְּתוֹכוֹ בֶּחָרָבָה דַּיֵּנוּ

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Six are the books of the Mishnah   שישה סידרי משנה

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If He had given us their wealth, and had not split the sea for us — Dayenu, it would have sufficed!Ilu natan lanu et mamonam, v'lo kara lanu et hayam, dayeinu! אִלּוּ נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת מָמוֹנָם ןלא קָרַע לָנוּ אֶת הַיָּם דַּיֵּנוּ

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Five are the books of the Torah     חמישה חומשי תורה

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The exodus was not simply an event that happened to us. It is an event that we became. It is who we are. It is the life of each one of us, occurring again and again, in our wrestling match with the world, in our struggle with our own selves. We embody freedom in a constant mode of escape. Perhaps that is why Jews have always been the rebels of society, the ones who think out of the box. The experience...

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If He had smitten their first-born, and had not given us their wealth — Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu harag et b’choreihem, v'lo natan lanu et mamonam, dayeinu! אִלּוּ הָרַג אֶת בְּכוֹרֵיהֶם וְלֹא נָתַן לָנוּ אֶת מָמוֹנָם דַּיֵּנוּ

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Why is there so much broken in this world? Why did the Cosmic Designer make a world where hearts break, lives shatter, beauty crumbles?A whole vessel can contain its measure, but a broken one can hold the Infinite.Matzah is called the poor man’s bread. He is low and broken. And it is this brokenness that allows him to open his soul and escape his Egypt.As long as we feel whole, there is no room left for us to grow. It is...

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Four are the Mothers  ארבע אימהות

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If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their first-born... Dayenu, it would have sufficed! Ilu asah beloheihem,v'lo harag et b'choreihem,dayeinu! אִלּוּ עָשָׂה בֵּאלֹהֵיהֶםוְלֹא הָרַג אֶת בְּכוֹרֵיהֶם  

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What are the requirements for karpas? It needs to be fruit of the earth, not of the tree or vine.Where does it come from? From the Greek word karpos, meaning fresh raw vegetable. Karpas also comes from similar words for the color green in a number of different ancient languages. For example, karpas was the denotation for the color green in Farsi, and was the name for the color green according to Rashi (old French). Karpos was one of the original...

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We need to re-taste the breaking labor of Egypt to liberate ourselves from it once again. It was this labor that prepared us for freedom. It was this labor that gave us a humble spirit to accept wisdom.Today, as well, you can choose to achieve this humble spirit by enduring the battle to survive the rat race. There will be plenty of futile, hamster-wheel tasks to bring you to your knees.Or you could choose another path: achieving true humility with the...

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Three are the Fathers  שלושה אבות