L’Chaim (newsletter) article, February, 2021

When Can We Finally Say “Dayeinu”?!

We’re not quite up to the holiday of “Dayeinu” (Passover) yet, but it still feels like a word - or at least an exclamation - that, for many of us, is all too present right now. In the context of the Pesach Haggadah, this one word is the refrain of a popular song, and the word itself means “Enough.” Or, to be more precise, it really means, “It would have been enough for us…” 

The song, Dayeinu, is supposed to remind us of just how many glorious miracles God performed for us when rescuing us from slavery in Egypt, bringing us through the desert, giving us the Torah, and bringing us into The Promised Land. Any one of these gifts and favors would have been “enough,” yet God did for us more and more and more.

In modern Hebrew, the word “Dai” (pronounced like “die”) is a common word in everyday conversation, and means “quit it!” Or “enough already!” And, to be honest, I think that’s more the feeling we’re all experiencing these days: Pandemic still raging? Dayeinu! We’ve had enough! Insurrection at the Capitol and a turbulent, complicated transfer of power? Dayeinu! Environmental crises continue, but now we all feel even LESS well-equipped to deal with it? DAYEINU!! 

Nevertheless, here we are. And one of the things that repetitive Passover song also reminds us of, is the importance of being mindful and present to our experiences. Even when we’re not feeling grateful, and when things seem rough, we should STILL be “in the moment.” Because we can learn a lot. As challenging as the Exodus story was for our ancestors - filled with agony, pain, and loss - it did ultimately become a foundational story for us as a people. And repeating that story (along with its songs) has preserved us as a people for millennia. 

There is a lot we can learn from all we are going through right now. It isn’t fun, and it’s pushing us in many challenging ways. We want to say “Dayeinu!!” - “I’ve had it up to HERE!!” But as a people, we have learned over the ages that these can also be life-changing moments of clarity, intentionality, meaning, and purpose. We’re all likely maintaining social distancing for a fair while longer… let’s use this time to be mindful and focused, so that we can emerge on the other side with grounding experiences that inspire us as well as future generations.